around 1700–1800

Wood Hornbook with Abacus

Hornbook with an abacus

Cut into the top of this hornbook, an abacus of 12 beads on a leather string has been added. The combination of two educational tools like a pencil and an eraser is not unusual, but in this instance, it is unique.

Underneath the translucent horn, the instruction card bears an alphabet, vowels, ligatures and the Lord's Prayer. A ligature is when two or more letters are joined by a single glyph (for example, æ).