“Hearkens after prophecies and dreams;
And from the cross-row plucks the letter G,
And says a wizard told him that by G
His issue disinherited should be.”
Shakespeare, in Richard III, Act I. sc. I
Studious Couple by Robert W. Allan
From “History of the Hornbook” by Andrew Tuer, scanned by ttscribe4.euston.archive.org and licensed under CC 1.0
“He who keeps a small shop must be content to sell horn-books.” ~Old Cornish Proverb
“Here/ The letters may be read, through the horn,/ That make the story perfect.” ~Ben Jonson, Volpone
A Liberal Education
By Ambrose Dudley
From “History of the Hornbook” by
Andrew Tuer, scanned by
ttscribe4.euston.archive.org and licensed
under CC 1.0
“Our parents yet exert a prudent care
To feed our minds with proper fare;
And wisely store the nursery by degrees
With wholesome learning, yet acquired with ease.
Neatly secured from being soil’d or torn,
Beneath a pane of thin translucent horn,
A book (to please us at a tender age
‘Tis called a book, though but a single page)
Presents the prayer and the Saviour deigned to teach,
Which children use, and parsons – when they preach.”
William Cowper, Tirocinium, 1784
The library has online access to Cowper’s Tirocinium through Newsbank. Click here for the link to the catalog entry!