Beschreibung:

HORN BOOK -- A LEATHER-COVERED WOODEN HORN BOOK, 110 X 55 MM. MAX., CIRCA 1670, THE LEATHER BACK STAMPED IN SILVER WITH A PORTRAIT OF CHARLES II ON HORSEBACK, A CROWN AND THE MONOGRAM 'CR' IN THE TOP LEFT-HAND CORNER, A WINGED CHERUB'S FACE IN THE OPPOSITE CORNER, THE INITIALS 'I I' APPEARING BETWEEN THE HORSE'S HOOVES; THE VERSO WITH A BRASS LATTEN AND ORIGINAL TACKS FRAMING A PIECE OF PAPER PRINTED WITH THE ALPHABET AND THE LORD'S PRAYER. (SILVER STAMP OF CHARLES II OXIDISED TO LEADEN COLOUR, CORNERS LIGHTLY RUBBED, THE PRINTED TEXT WITH SEVERAL LARGE HOLES.) IN LATE 19TH-CENTURY WOODEN FRAME, GLAZED ON BOTH SIDES. THE LOT IS ACCOMPANIED BY A HAND-WRITTEN CARD READING: "HORN BOOK. WITH FIGURE OF CHARLES I [SIC] STAMPED ON LEATHER BACK. FOUND IN THE WALLS OF OLD PUBLIC HOUSE (ANVIL & HAMMER) ASHLEY GREEN. BUCKS. WHEN DIGGING FOR SITE OF NEW VICARAGE. 1875." THIS HORN BOOK IS RECORDED IN ANDREW TUER'S HISTORY OF THE HORN-BOOK , LONDON: 1896, VOL. II, P. 147, WHERE IT IS DESCRIBED AS "SEVERAL TIMES EXHIBITED [AND] OWNED BY MRS. SMITH DORRIEN OF GREAT BERKHAMSTED". A VERY SIMILAR EXAMPLE IS ILLUSTRATED BY TUER AS CUT 142 ON P. 151. THE EQUESTRIAN FIGURE IS IDENTIFIED BY TUER AS CHARLES II DUE TO THE REPEATED FIGURE 'I' APPEARING BETWEEN THE HORSE'S HOOVES: HOWEVER, AN ALMOST IDENTICAL FIGURE, WITH THE INITIALS 'T H' BETWEEN THE HORSE'S HOOVES IS IDENTIFIED BY TUER AS CHARLES I (CUT 17, P. 34, VOL. I). IT SEEMS POSSIBLE THAT THE REPEATED 'I' IN THE PRESENT EXAMPLE IS AN INDICATION OF THE ENGRAVER OF THE STAMP, RATHER THAN ITS SUBJECT,IN WHICH CASE THE HORN BOOK WOULD BE DATED C. 1630-40.