{"product_id":"the-british-battledore-alnwick-1830","title":"The British Battledore; or, First Lessons","description":"\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"2\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(Battledores,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Early Education,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e 19th-Century Ephemera) DAVISON, W.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (Publisher).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-path-to-node=\"2\" data-index-in-node=\"78\"\u003eThe British Battledore; or, First Lessons\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Alnwick [Northumberland,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e England]:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e W.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Davison,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e [1830].\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e One folded card,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e [4] panels plus cover flap,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e measuring 5-1\/8\" x 8-5\/16\",\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e folded to 5-1\/8\" x 3-1\/4\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Printed in black on stiff card stock,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e the yellow exterior panels featuring title,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e imprint,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and price to the front,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and a religious passage with a woodcut illustration to the rear.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e The physical condition of the item is graded VERY GOOD (utilizing the standard antiquarian book grading scale for works on paper); exhibiting minor exterior dusting and fading,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e a minor inked manuscript word on the front panel,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e a corner crease to the cover flap,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and minor spotting to the interior panels.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 data-path-to-node=\"3\"\u003eEvolution of the Battledore in Early Nineteenth-Century Education\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"4\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBattledores emerged during the early nineteenth century as an economical paper alternative to traditional wooden hornbooks,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e serving as fundamental primers to teach children foundational reading skills.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Unlike standard bound volumes,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e battledores typically consisted of a single sheet of card stock folded into multiple leaves,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e making them inexpensive to produce and distribute widely across Great Britain and America.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e A standard educational battledore incorporated the complete alphabet in both uppercase and lowercase forms,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e elementary phonetic combinations,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e a sequence of Arabic numerals,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and woodcut illustrations designed to engage young learners.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Published by William Davison in Alnwick—a regional center for chapbooks and juvenile ephemera—this specimen adheres closely to the traditional format while omitting numerical lists and introducing a concise religious text,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e accompanied by three woodcut illustrations attributed to the workshop of Thomas Bewick.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 data-path-to-node=\"5\"\u003eSeries Bibliography, Scarcity, and Physical Preservation\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"6\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSurviving specimens of ephemeral nineteenth-century instructional literature are vulnerable to loss,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e heavy juvenile use,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and structural degradation,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e rendering early folding battledores scarce in collectible condition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e A current global sweep of the OCLC\/WorldCat database locates only a limited number of institutional specimens preserved worldwide,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e emphasizing the fragility of these unmounted card stock primers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-path-to-node=\"7\"\u003e\u003cb data-path-to-node=\"7\" data-index-in-node=\"0\"\u003eREPRESENTING A WONDERFUL ADDITION TO ANY COLLECTION DEVOTED TO THE HISTORY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, NINETEENTH-CENTURY PRINTING, OR RARE JUVENILE EPHEMERA.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e# 001301\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wallace \u0026 Clark, Booksellers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68136371912853,"sku":null,"price":275.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0459\/2589\/2245\/files\/british_battledore_01_20261101.jpg?v=1793577352","url":"https:\/\/wallaceandclark.com\/products\/the-british-battledore-alnwick-1830","provider":"Wallace \u0026 Clark, Booksellers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}