DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0132
104 THE GHEAT EXHIBITION
near Edinburgh, it is believed they are adopted by no public institution in Great Britain,
It is still a question if the roughness of the serrated character possesses any advantage
over the smooth, sharp embossing. Old and used books are frequently preferred by the
blind to new and fresh ones.
"While Mr. Gall was thus engaged at Edinburgh, the Rev. Mr. Taylor, of York,
displayed an intelligent and active interest in the education of the blind. In 1828 he
published the Diagrams of Euclid's Elements of Geometry, in embossed or tangible form,
in 8vo. This was done on Bristol board, but was found too expensive. His mode of
embossing, we believe, was forcing the paper, by means of heavy pressure, into the deep
cut lines of a copper-plate. It was not successful. He published also a map of Eng-
land and Wales. In 1836, he printed in raised characters Selections of Psalm Tunes
and Chants, in oblong 4to. Also a short history of Elijah the Prophet, and of Naaman
the Syrian; and the History of Joseph. The efforts of Mr. Alexander Hay, in the cause
of embossed typography, deserve mention, although an entire failure. He devised an
alphabet of twenty-six arbitrary characters, which, by certain combinations, could repre-
sent the abbreviations and double letters; so that in all he had fifty-eight characters.
He procured types and other printing apparatus, and in 1828 or 1829, issued a pro-
spectus for publishing the Gospel of St. Matthew, at 7s. 6d. The book was never pub-
lished. The public interest in the blind became so great, that in 1832 the Society
of Arts of Edinburgh offered a gold medal of the value of M%0, " for the best commu-
nication of a method of printing for the blind•" and the result was, that between the 9th
of January, 1832, and the 25th of February, 1835, no less than nineteen different alpha-
bets were submitted, of which sixteen were in a purely arbitrary character. The grand
problem was to produce an alphabet that would unite cheapness and legibility. While
the puzzling question of an alphabet best adapted both to the lingers of the blind and the
eyes of their friends was under warm discussion on this side of the Atlantic, Br. Howe
was developing his system at Boston, in the United States. In 1833, the Perkins' Insti-
tution for the Blind was established at Boston, and Dr. S. G. Howe, a gentleman distin-
guished through a long series of years for his philanthropic labours, was placed at its
head. As Gall had done, Dr. Howe took Haiiy's invention as the basis of his system, and
soon made those improvements and modifications which has rendered the Boston press
so famous. He adopted the common Roman letter of the lower-case. His first aim was
to compress the letter into a comparatively compact and cheap form. This he accom-
plished by cutting off all the flourishes and points about the letters, and reducing them to
the minimum size and elevation which could be distinguished by the generality of the
blind. He so managed the letters that they occupied but little more than one space and
a half instead of three. A few of the circular letters were modified into angular shapes,
yet preserving the original forms sufficiently to be easily read by all. So great was this
reduction, that the entire New Testament, which, according to Haiiy's type, would have
filled nine volumes, and cost £20, could be printed in two volumes for 16s. Early in the
summer of 1834 he published the Acts of the Apostles. Indeed, such rapid progress did
he make in his enterprise, that by the end of 1835 he printed in relief the whole of the
New Testament, for the first time in any language, in four handsome small quarto
volumes, comprising 624 pages, for four dollars. These were published altogether in 1836.
The alphabet thus contrived by Dr. Howe, in 1833, it appears, has never since been
changed. It was immediately adopted^ and subsequently became extensively and almost
exclusively used by the seven principal public institutions throughout the country. It is
now the only system taught or tolerated in the United States, and deserves only to be
better known in Great Britain and elsewhere, to be appreciated. In America, seventeen
of the states have made provision for the education of their blind; and as universal
near Edinburgh, it is believed they are adopted by no public institution in Great Britain,
It is still a question if the roughness of the serrated character possesses any advantage
over the smooth, sharp embossing. Old and used books are frequently preferred by the
blind to new and fresh ones.
"While Mr. Gall was thus engaged at Edinburgh, the Rev. Mr. Taylor, of York,
displayed an intelligent and active interest in the education of the blind. In 1828 he
published the Diagrams of Euclid's Elements of Geometry, in embossed or tangible form,
in 8vo. This was done on Bristol board, but was found too expensive. His mode of
embossing, we believe, was forcing the paper, by means of heavy pressure, into the deep
cut lines of a copper-plate. It was not successful. He published also a map of Eng-
land and Wales. In 1836, he printed in raised characters Selections of Psalm Tunes
and Chants, in oblong 4to. Also a short history of Elijah the Prophet, and of Naaman
the Syrian; and the History of Joseph. The efforts of Mr. Alexander Hay, in the cause
of embossed typography, deserve mention, although an entire failure. He devised an
alphabet of twenty-six arbitrary characters, which, by certain combinations, could repre-
sent the abbreviations and double letters; so that in all he had fifty-eight characters.
He procured types and other printing apparatus, and in 1828 or 1829, issued a pro-
spectus for publishing the Gospel of St. Matthew, at 7s. 6d. The book was never pub-
lished. The public interest in the blind became so great, that in 1832 the Society
of Arts of Edinburgh offered a gold medal of the value of M%0, " for the best commu-
nication of a method of printing for the blind•" and the result was, that between the 9th
of January, 1832, and the 25th of February, 1835, no less than nineteen different alpha-
bets were submitted, of which sixteen were in a purely arbitrary character. The grand
problem was to produce an alphabet that would unite cheapness and legibility. While
the puzzling question of an alphabet best adapted both to the lingers of the blind and the
eyes of their friends was under warm discussion on this side of the Atlantic, Br. Howe
was developing his system at Boston, in the United States. In 1833, the Perkins' Insti-
tution for the Blind was established at Boston, and Dr. S. G. Howe, a gentleman distin-
guished through a long series of years for his philanthropic labours, was placed at its
head. As Gall had done, Dr. Howe took Haiiy's invention as the basis of his system, and
soon made those improvements and modifications which has rendered the Boston press
so famous. He adopted the common Roman letter of the lower-case. His first aim was
to compress the letter into a comparatively compact and cheap form. This he accom-
plished by cutting off all the flourishes and points about the letters, and reducing them to
the minimum size and elevation which could be distinguished by the generality of the
blind. He so managed the letters that they occupied but little more than one space and
a half instead of three. A few of the circular letters were modified into angular shapes,
yet preserving the original forms sufficiently to be easily read by all. So great was this
reduction, that the entire New Testament, which, according to Haiiy's type, would have
filled nine volumes, and cost £20, could be printed in two volumes for 16s. Early in the
summer of 1834 he published the Acts of the Apostles. Indeed, such rapid progress did
he make in his enterprise, that by the end of 1835 he printed in relief the whole of the
New Testament, for the first time in any language, in four handsome small quarto
volumes, comprising 624 pages, for four dollars. These were published altogether in 1836.
The alphabet thus contrived by Dr. Howe, in 1833, it appears, has never since been
changed. It was immediately adopted^ and subsequently became extensively and almost
exclusively used by the seven principal public institutions throughout the country. It is
now the only system taught or tolerated in the United States, and deserves only to be
better known in Great Britain and elsewhere, to be appreciated. In America, seventeen
of the states have made provision for the education of their blind; and as universal