The Battledore
A battledore issued by Newbery in London between 1750 - 1800. The
battledore was an instrument like a small racket, used for playing shuttlecock.
The term was applied to the wooden or cardboard tablets, which gradually
superceded and refined the hornbook as a device for teaching children to read.
The wording printed on them varied greatly, but usually featured an
alphabet, and, unlike the hornbook, entertainment was aimed at as well as
instruction in the form of illustrations. According to Mahoney,
battledores contained the first pictures to be put in the hands of the child.
They first appeared in the 1750's and were produced until the middle of
the nineteenth century.