Royal Battledore

Royal Battledore, OR, First Lessons for Children, A Facsimile of an Original Battledore Owned by the Boston Public Library. Boston: The Horn Book, Inc. [n.d.] From box of Tuer folio II.

A later version of the hornbook, the battledore, gained popularity in the mid-eighteenth century in both England and the colonies. It soon took the form of a folded card with one or two leaves and a flap closure. In early versions, the printed text was covered on the outside with gilt and embossed papers with floral or marble patterns. Later versions of the battledore omitted the varnish covering as well as the pasted-on backing paper, allowing the entire folder to be printed inside and out. What it lost in beauty, the battledore gained by expanding its text, thereby improving upon the very short lesson plan of the original hornbook format.