A SHORT HISTORY OF SCHOOL BOOKS

From a paddle
to a page.

The first schoolbook many children held was not a book at all.

From the middle of the 15th century, English children learnt their letters from a hornbook: a small wooden paddle with the alphabet under a sheet of flattened horn. Pictures, columns and whole series of readers came later.

ABC under horn

Compare the books

Old leather-bound school books stacked on a worn wooden school desk in soft window light, with an inkwell beside them — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Letters on a board
Pictures beside words
Readers in a series
Five centuries of learning to read

THE SHORT ANSWER

Board, then pictures,
then a series.

Each step made learning to read
cheaper, clearer or easier to repeat.

THE HORNBOOK

Letters under horn

A paddle-shaped board with the alphabet on it, later printed on paper and covered by flattened animal horn held by metal strips.

Compare the books

THE PICTURE BOOK

Words beside woodcuts

Published in 1658, Orbis Sensualium Pictus combined 150 woodcut illustrations with parallel columns in Latin and a local language.

See the numbers

THE READER

Books in a series

The Eclectic Readers, first published in 1836–1837, became a six-volume series used across American classrooms to teach reading.

A QUICK COMPARISON

Which early
schoolbook?

Pick an early learning book to see what it was and when it appeared. The bar shows how much it could hold, from a single sheet to a whole series.

Schoolbook check

Choose a bookThe hornbookThe battledoreA 1553 illustrated volumeOrbis Sensualium Pictus, 1658The Eclectic Readers, 1836

The hornbookOne sheet

From the middle of the 15th century in England. Letters were first written on the wood; once paper got cheaper in the 16th century, a printed sheet sat under horn.

The battledoreFolded card

The paper version of the hornbook, developed in the middle of the 18th century. It folded into three, so when closed it looked like a book.

A 1553 illustrated volume8 woodcuts

A volume on boats and navigation from an earlier children's set, illustrated with eight woodcuts. It may have been a precursor but never gained wide acceptance.

Orbis Sensualium Pictus, 1658150 woodcuts

Often called the first children's picture book. Subjects ran from nature and science to music and cooking, and it stayed in use into the early 19th century.

The Eclectic Readers, 1836Six volumes

The first four volumes appeared in 1836–1837 and two more followed in 1844 and 1857. They were significantly revised in 1879.

Sources: State Library Victoria, Early Alphabet Books (2013); Library of Congress blog (2023); Ohio University, McGuffey Readers.

Based on State Library Victoria, the Library of Congress, Ohio University and WKU Libraries. General history.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Pictures on every page,
copies by the million.

One figure from the 1658 picture book,
one from the best-selling American readers.

150

Woodcut illustrations in Orbis Sensualium Pictus

The 1658 book paired 150 woodcuts with parallel columns of text. The earliest English edition followed in 1659, and the book stayed in use for more than 200 years.

PICTURES · LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

≈ 120m

Eclectic Readers sold, 1836 to 1960

About 120 million copies were sold between 1836 and 1960. WKU Libraries adds that since 1961 they have sold some 30,000 copies a year.

COPIES · OHIO UNIVERSITY

The Library of Congress acquired a 1664 London printing of Orbis Sensualium Pictus in 2012.

WHAT CHANGED

Four ideas that
still shape schoolbooks.

Today's textbooks still use ideas that appeared in these early books.

Make it durable
The hornbook's horn cover protected the lesson sheet from small hands.
Put pictures beside words
Orbis Pictus set an illustration next to each topic, with text in two languages side by side.
Build in steps
The Eclectic Readers came as a graded series of volumes rather than a single book.
Practise out loud
The Readers encouraged pupils to memorise and recite passages, including speeches from Shakespeare.

An old book lying open on a library table, showing a page of small woodcut pictures beside columns of printed words — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

A small wooden paddle-shaped hornbook with a printed sheet under a translucent layer of horn, held at the edges by metal strips — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

FROM ALPHABET TO LITERATURE

Teaching to read,
then reading to learn.

By the beginning of the 19th century, alphabet books no longer served only to teach the alphabet; publishers used them to teach and entertain as well, according to State Library Victoria's children's literature collection.

Ohio University notes that the Eclectic Readers mixed stories, poems, essays and speeches from many sources and helped popularise Shakespeare in American schools. Their content reflected the attitudes of their day, and they were revised in 1879.

Questions

Questions people ask

What is a hornbook?

A paddle-shaped wooden board used to teach children the alphabet. A printed lesson sheet was covered by a thin layer of flattened animal horn, held in place by metal strips.

What was the first children's picture book?

Orbis Sensualium Pictus, published in 1658, is considered the first children's picture book. It combined 150 woodcuts with parallel columns of Latin and a local language.

What is a battledore?

A folding paper version of the hornbook, developed in the middle of the 18th century. It folded into three, so it looked like a small book when closed.

How many McGuffey Readers were sold?

Ohio University says approximately 120 million copies were sold between 1836 and 1960, a figure matched only by the Bible and Webster's Dictionary.

Are the old readers still used?

WKU Libraries says some schools and homeschooling parents still use them, with sales of some 30,000 copies a year since 1961.

From a paddle
to a page.