A child's hornbook from 1750-1800 [Library shelfmark: Mas.1060(7)].
Hornbooks are single sheet of paper mounted on board and covered with cattle horn to make them durable.
Handles were a common feature so that hornbooks could be easily held and hung from a child’s belt or around the neck.
They were used as simple primers for teaching children reading, writing and important parts of the Christian liturgy.
This example is from 1750-1800 and, like most hornbooks, contains the alphabet in upper and lower case and the Lord's Prayer.
Note that there are only 24 letters in the alphabet rather than 26, as the letters 'I' and 'J', 'U' and 'V' were often used interchangeably until the late 18th century. As paper became cheaper it no longer needed to be protected so carefully and hornbooks fell out of use.