What is "hornbook"

Hornbook \Horn"book`\, n.

1. The first book for children, or that from which in former times they learned their letters and rudiments; -- so called because a sheet of horn covered the small, thin board of oak, or the slip of paper, on which the alphabet, digits, and often the Lord's Prayer, were written or printed; a primer. ``He teaches boys the hornbook.''
   --Shak.

2. A book containing the rudiments of any science or branch of knowledge; a manual; a handbook.

n. 1 A single page containing the alphabet, covered with a sheet of transparent horn, formerly used for teaching children to read.The '''''' by W.W. Pasko (1894) 2 (context legal English) A legal textbook that gives a basic overview of a particular area of law.

A hornbook is a book that serves as primer for study. The hornbook originated in England as long ago as 1450, or earlier. The term has been applied to a few different study materials in different fields. In children's education, in the years before modern educational materials were used, it referred to a leaf or page displaying the alphabet, religious materials, etc., covered with a transparent sheet of horn (or mica) and attached to a frame provided with a handle.

In United States legal education, hornbooks are one-volume legal treatises, written primarily for law students on subjects typically covered by law school courses.

Hornbooks summarize and explain the law in a specific area. They are distinct from casebooks, which are collections of cases (or parts of cases) chosen to help illustrate and stimulate discussion about legal issues.

The term derives from the hornbook, an early children's educational tool, implying that the material is basic. The term hornbook law is sometimes used to describe basic, settled legal principles (see Black letter law).