Circa 1500-1633 A.D. A Tudor or Stuart period lead-alloy 'hornbook' composed of an incomplete rectangular plaque with small rectangular handle; bearing raised, moulded text on the obverse with hatched forms between four registers, which frame the letters of the alphabet '[A]BCDE/FGHIKL/MNOPqR/ST[VWX]YZ'; hatched geometric scheme to the reverse; accompanied by lead-alloy stylus with cylindrical body and pointed end. Portable Antiquities Scheme report number DENO-08E298. 36.2 grams total, 46-47 mm (1 7/8 in.). Found Staunton in the Vale, Nottinghamshire, UK, by Ken Burrell whilst searching with a metal detector on Saturday 1st April 2017. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme report number DENO-08E298. The letter 'U' has been omitted from the alphabet as is common with such objects, as has the letter 'J', suggesting that the book was produced prior to the publication of Charles Butler's English Grammar (1633) which first distinguished between I and J. The letter Z is reversed. Hornbooks were employed as learning aids and commonly made from paper mounted onto wood together with a transparent sheet of horn. Smaller, more portable lead-alloy examples such as this one are generally believed to have been mass produced, whilst still falling within the genre of 'hornbooks'. Interestingly, some scholars have argued that the mistakes and inconsistencies found on lead examples rendered them less effective learning tools, used as children's toys in families with low levels of literacy, or possibly serving as dolls' accessories. The style and layout of the text, decoration on the reverse and the overall size of this hornbook suggest that it may have been produced from the same mould as a second hornbook discovered in a nearby location, also recorded with the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme under DENO-094464, and which is also being auctioned in this sale. [2, No Reserve]