Duxbury Systems Proudly Presents:

History of Braille and the Early Education of the Blind:

An Historical Resource

Through researching these works, I have learned that in the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a very vigorous intellectual debate on the education of the blind and the deaf-blind. Was the deaf-blind person who learned to read and write truly educated as a sighted person was? Or was this disabled person like a computer app, just able to respond to stimuli in pre-programmed ways? It is clear that these books on the education of the blind were widely read and discussed in educated circles. The education of Laura Bridgeman and Helen Keller were the astonishing moon shots of their era. So, Duxbury Systems proudly presents these documents so that others can appreciate how at one time, the education of the sensory disabled was a subject of intense interest.

Modern Documents

How Braille Began by Paula Kimbrough (NFB Bulletin, July 2005)
A Critical Evaluation of the Historical Development of the Tactile Modes of Reading and an Analysis and Evaluation of Researches Carried out in Endeavours to Make the Braille Code Easier to Read and to Write by Pamela Lorimer, December 1996 This is a wonderful survey of the history of tactile reading systems
From Silence and Darkness: Historical Origins of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, 1883 to 1917, Douglas W. Mikutel
World Braille Council braille bibliography
Legacy of the Past (Those who are gone but have not left); Enerstvedt, Regi. Th. (1996); Some aspects in the history of blind education, deaf education, deaf blind education, and epilogue; with emphasis on the time before 1900. Forlaget Nord-Press, Dronninglund, Danmark. 399 pp.

Historical Documents (organized by date of publication)

Early Years

An Essay on the Education of the Blind, by Valentin Haüy 1786 (translated into English, and re-printed in 1894)
The First Publication of the Braille Code by Louis Braille in 1829 (Book Images, text, translation, introduction are from the NFB website)
An Account of the New York Institution for the Blind, Together with a Brief Statement of the Origin, Progress, and Present Condition, of the Institutions for the Blind in this and other countries, to which is added Biographical Notices of some of the most Illustrious Blind, 1833
Nouveau procédé pour représenter par des points la forme même des lettres, by Louis Braille 1839
Another translaton of Louis Braille's first book
First Report of the Board of Visitors of the Kentucky Institution for the Education of the Blind, 1843
Report of the Benevolent Institutions of Great Britain and Paris including the Institutions and Asylums for the Blind, Deaf, and Dumb, and the Insane, 1846
A Guide to the Proper Management and Education of Blind Children in their Earlier Years, Johann G. Knie, 1851 (translated into English, and re printed 1894)
Tangible Typography, How the Blind Read, 1853
The Education and the Employment of the Blind, by Dr. T.R. Armitage, 1871
Blindness and the Blind or, a Treatise on the Science of Typhlology by W. Hanks Levy, 1872
The New York System of Tangible Musical Writing and Point Writing for the Use by the Blind by Michael Wait, 1873
The New York System of Tangible Musical Writing and Point Writing for the Use by the Blind by Michael Wait, (2nd edition) 1882
Education of the Blind: Historical Sketch of Its Origin, Rise, and Progress, Michael Anagnos, 1882
Work for the Blind in China by C.F Gordon-Cumming, 1892
The Blind as Seen Through Blind Eyes, Maurice De La Sizeranne, 1893
Raised Print Books for the Blind.: The Origin and History of Embossed Print Interesting Facts about the Circulating Library of the School for the Blind, Halifax, NS 1895
The Life and Education of Laura Dewey Bridgeman, the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Girl, by Mary Swift Lamson, 1899
Short Account of the Tōkyō Blind and Dumb School, 1903
Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind: A Bibliography Relating to the Blind from 1907
Biennial Report of the Colored Department of the Maryland School for the Blind, 1908
A Key to New York Point, by William B. Wait 1908
1909 celebration: 100 years after Louis Braille's birth
History of the Education of the Blind by R.W. Illingworth, 1910
New Aspects of the Uniform Type Folly by William Wait (1916)
The Blind, Their Condition and the Work Being Done for Them in the United States, by Henry Best 1919
The Moon Element: an Introduction to the Wonders of Selenium, 1924. A remarkable book about the Optophone, an early reading machine for the blind.
Braille Music Code, 1929
A Comparative Study of Braille Grade One and a Half and Braille Grade Two by Robert B. Irwin and Ruth E. Wilcox, 1929
The Braille System for Reading and Writing (1931 British description of Grade II)
World Conference on Work for the Blind, 1931
From Homer to Helen Keller, A Social and Educational Study of the Blind, Richard Slayton French, AFB, 1932
Standard English Braille in Twenty Lessons by Madeleine Loomis, 1934
Alphabetic Guide to Grade 2: Standard English Braille, 1934
Sequences and Syllabication by Madeline Loomis, 1936 [The issues of this book play a role in "The War of the Dots."]
You Can Learn to Read Braille, Madeleine Seymour Loomis, 1939
The Education of Negro Blind in the United States, Charles Buell, 1945
Comic Book about Louis Braille (1948)
Report on the World Braille Situation, 1949 (UNESCO Report pre dating the three volumes of World Braille Usage (1953 and 1990) This item is filled with historical information on tactile reading systems for the blind.
The Reading Fingers: Life of Louis Braille 1809-1852 (1955)
History of Howe Press
As I Saw it by Robert Irwin, AFB, 1955 (contains "The War of the Dots")