Louis Braille: A Touch of Genius 0939173700, 2005029150

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Meaux, 28 September 1832 A Tough of Genius

Sir, In the early weeks of 1809, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, and Louis Braille were born. These three remarkable men would lend their

The organist position in Meaux pays only

355

brilliance to a century of great change and innovation, but only one escaped fame in

francs, the one to tune pianos [is] at the invitation

his lifetime.

Louis Braille was born sighted, and accidentally

ofPesupIare in Meaux and there are but a few

blinded himself at the age of three. He was fortunate to be sent to Paris to board at one

cathedrals in the area. Following the opinion of nrp

of the world's first schools for blind children. There, at the age of 12, he began to work tire¬ lessly on a revolutionary system of reading and

relatives andjour good advice, I told Abbe Pelais

writing by touch. Braille's passion to improve life for “my fellows in misfortune” was the

that I would turn down the offer. I forgot to say

driving force behind his creation of a code of raised dots that gave blind people the gift of

that it is very expensive to live in Meaux and I dont

literacy for the first time, whether they speak French, Chinese, or Urdu. His collaboration on the invention of the raphigraphe, a precur¬

believe that I could easily live there as a seminarian.

sor to the dot-matrix printer, is further testimony to his creativity and innovativeness.

I shall givejou the details and answerjour excellent

Drawing on primary sources that sort fact from fiction, Louis Braille: A Touch of Genius is the first

letters in a few days. I have the honor of being.

ever full-color biography to include 31 neverbefore-translated letters, some written by

Sir, jour affectionate student.

Braille's own hand. An extraordinary collection of documents, photographs, and artistic works enhances the bibliographic narrative of the phases of Braille’s life — as a child and student, talented musician, beloved teacher, astute businessman, and genius inventor.

Louis Braille

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National Braille Press

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Boston

In memory of rr^ mother and father - C. M. M. National Braille Press

88 Saint Stephen Street Boston, MA 02115-4302 www.braille.com

Text copyright ©

20o6 by C. Michael Mellor

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. First published in the United States of America by National Braille Press Inc. William M. Raeder, President Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mellor, C. Michael. Louis Braille : a touch of genius / By C. Michael Mellor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-939173-70-0 (alk. paper)

I. Braille, Louis, 1809-1852—Juvenile literature. 2. Blind teachers—France—Biography— Juvenile literature.

1. Title.

HV1624.B65M45 2006 686.2*82092—dc22

2005029150

Book design byjudith Krimski, Krimski Design, Inc.

Manufactured in the United States of America Henry N. Sawyer Company, Inc., Charlestown, Massachusetts 10987654321

• •• •• •

•• • •

N.VnONAl, ii All. L L P R I-: S S

TAIBLIE OF (DOMTEHTS

Louis Braille Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation

.

v

Merci Beaucoup.

vi

Preface.viii Translation of Letters.

x

Prologue.

I

Home.

12

Coupvray

.20

Valentin Haiiy.28 School Life.44Braille Code Teacher

.58

.66

Music.78 Dot-Matrix Printing.86 Braille Banned Global Braille

.96 .106

Epilogue.114 Directions to La Maison Natale de Louis Braille . . ..II5

Illustration sources and credits Endnotes

.II6

.117

Bibliography.120 Index.131

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For the braille edition of this book, all pictures have been described by experts skilled in the art, for example: Girl on Bridge: Early-igth-centuiy color litho¬ graph. In dusfy evening light, a girl with ^elids lowered kneels upon a layer of straw beside the stone wall of a bridge. In her right hand she holds out a metal cup ^ the handle. In the other, she grasps the narrow end of a white, cone-shaped paper lantern. Its radiant light illuminates her thin, heart-shaped face and diminutive mouth drawn in a warm smile. Brown hair falls in curls around her face from beneath a gray scarf tied in folds on her head. A narrow cord winds loosely around her wrist and is attached to both the handle of the cup and the collar of a sleeping black dog, right, snu^ed against her knees. A straight stick is tucked into the bend of her right elbow. She wears a golden-brown shawl over a dress and white apron. A scarf around her neck is pleated behind a cloth sign fastened across her chest on which French words are written ^ hand, “Aux Ames Sensibles,” which translates “To the KindHearted." Below the picture, curved lines frame and embellish the title, “La Jeune Aveugle du Pont Neuf," which translates “The Blind Girl of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge)."

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PMi:ZF

INNOVATKON

blind people the abilitp to write, to allow them to surmount this obstacle

that so markedly restricts their social relations... is a subject that should have been proposed for a prize dp the various betterment societies.” ^

Louis Braille

National Braille Press is proud to announce the Louis Braille Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation to be granted to an individual or group who advances the cause of literacy for blind and deafblind people worldwide.

For more information, please visit www.braille.com

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The author wishes to thank the many fine

Leading support for this book and

people who gave so generously of their time and talent to bring Louis Braille to life:

for the Louis Braille Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation from

A special thanks to Diane Croft for her invaluable editorial vision.

The Gibney

Isabelle Balot (French) Cathy Bickerdike (stamps)

Family Foundation

Martine Bruel (letter translations) Valerie Ching (picture descriptions for braille edition) Daniel Cuff (researcher) Andrea Doane (picture descriptions for braille edition) Joan Giurdanella (letter translations) Sandra Goroff (book publicity) Tony Grima (marketing)

Additional funds graciously

John Hernandez (researcher) Melissa Hirshson (braille transcription)

given h))

Tanya Holton (fundraising) Angela Kessler (fnalproof)

)

Paula Kimbrough (researcher)

E. Matilda Ziegler Foundation FOR THE Blind

Judith Krimski (book designer) Jefferson Lyons (brailleproduction) Terry McAweeney (project consultant) Martha Parravano (copyeditor) Nicholas Racheotes (historical reviewer) Jonathan Sawyer (printer) Helen Selsdon (researcher) Ken and Gunilla Stuckey (stamps S: reviewers) Jan Seymour-Ford (researcher) Marianne Wojnar (businessplan)

-y/c e7cif>Ci^iianip Our profound gratitude to our esteemed colleagues in France without whom this book would not be possible.

Notre profonde gratitude tient a signaler I’aide inestimable de nos collegues fran^aises sans lesquelles ce livre n’aurait jamais vu le jour.

Margaret Calvarin Directrice Maison Natale de Louis Braille

Zoubei’da Moulfi Chargee d’etudes Documentaires lr\stitut National des Jeunes Aveugles (INJA)

Noelle Roy Conservateur Musee “Valentin Ha^”

Zina Weygand Chercheur en Histoire Laboratoire Brigitte Fiybourgpour L’Insertion Sociale des Personnes Handicapees Conservatoire National des Arts et Me'tiers

O IT J .'1

13 R A 3 1. 3. K : A T O f C II

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i

LC This book began in a most improbable manner. In I995> ^ arrived at the Matilda ^egler Magazine for the Blind in New York City, where I was the editor, inviting me to attend a conference in

INJA, graciously granted me permission to translate the letters into English. And so I embarked on my little pamphlet. But it was not to be. During a casual conversation with my

Copenhagen on “the blind in history.” My academic background in

friend Diane Croft, vice president for publishing at National

history, plus two decades of working in the field of blindness,

Braille Press in Boston, Massachusetts, I mentioned that I was

compelled me to go. The conference was everything it was billed

working on a translation of Louis Braille’s letters. She at once

to be in “wonderful, wonderful” Copenhagen.

insisted that National Braille Press publish them — what publisher

The “Second International Conference on the Blind in History,” in

199^'

a smashing success. The most moving

would be more appropriate? I readily agreed, and we both even¬ tually spent a week in Paris, exploring the project in more depth.

aspect was walking in the footsteps of Louis Braille, exploring the

I had already found that there were other letters. But on this trip

modest house in Coupvray where he was born, seeing a reconstruc¬

we found information that had never appeared in English, and

tion of the very workshop where he pierced his eye with a sharp

also obtained permission from Margaret Calvarin, curator of La

tool belonging to his harness-maker father, entering the room

Maison Natale de Louis Braille (Louis Braille Museum), to use

at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (INJA) in which

many of the beautiful photographs in her collection. So, largely

Braille taught music and in whose infirmary he died.

by chance, my little pamphlet transmogrified into this book.

Just around the block from INJA, we visited the outstanding

At a time when the preferred form of biography seems to be

museum of the Association Valentin Haviy, founder of the first

what has justly been called “pathography” — emphasizing the

school for blind children in Europe. There, we examined cleverly

weaknesses, flaws, offensive prejudices, and bad behavior of the

made apparatus from many parts of the world that enabled blind

subject — this glimpse offers no such revelations. It is true that,

people to acquire skills they would otherwise, unthinkingly, have

at least in the English-speaking world, Louis Braille has been

been denied. Beyond all this treasure, what brought me literally

sentimentalized as a poor blind boy who lived a saintly life at a

to a stop was seeing, at INJA, a collection of letters actually written

school for the blind, invented a reading and writing system that

in Louis Braille’s own hand. Braille’s voice, so to speak, could at

now bears his name, and then died at an absurdly young age.

last be heard, rather than that of others writing about him. Instantly

This portrayal is not entirely untrue. But by allowing Louis

I resolved to obtain permission to have the letters translated into

Braille to speak for himself through his letters and other writing

English and published.

— by examining in more detail the often unhealthy environment

As soon as I returned to New York I set my course, completely unaware that INJA itself was planning to publish a facsimile of the letters. They appeared in

1999 iri a beautifully produced

limited edition of 200 copies, Louis Braille

l8og-1852

Correspondence.

Nonetheless, the trustees and M. Gerard Gonzales, director of

in which he performed his pioneering work, the awful sadness he faced, and his chronic poor health, but also his friendships, his extraordinary musical talent, his doggedness in the face of prejudice against his code, even traces of wry humor — then we will at last have had a glimpse of the real man. — C.M.M., Brooklyn, New York

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Of the twenty-four extant letters housed at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (INJA) in Paris, ten were written by Louis’s own hand, eight were dictated to sighted writers, four were written on a device that Braille helped to invent called a raphigraphe (basically a dot-matrix printer), and two were composed by, and in the handwriting of, Braille’s brother, Louis-Simon. Letters written in Louis’s own handwriting presented few

1 IE I F•» /

problems, even though there are no capital letters and little punctuation. His grammar is excellent, but sometimes he seems to forget what he has just written and repeats a word or

Fe rf.hi.nt

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legible to this day. In fact, Louis helped to invent this method of printing so that people who are blind could, for the first

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time, write to people with eyesight.

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One of Louis's raphigraphe letters.

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The letters dictated to sighted writers were the most

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difficult to translate. Even if the handwriting could be made

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out, and in most letters this was not easy to do, the scribes ^

— —TSr

were scarcely literate and simply wrote down the sounds they heard — or thought they heard. Words were run together, so that what looked like one word might well represent two or more words. Three stages were required to translate these letters: first, the handwriting had to be deciphered — what letters of the

Cl

alphabet did those unruly squiggles represent? Then came the task of figuring out what French words those words stood for, and finally, the translation into English.

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Here is an example:

Transcription:

“Mademoiselle votre seur soufter toujour de ses dans...” A letter dictated ^ Louis to a barely literate scribe.

French:

“Mademoiselle votre soeur souffre toujours de ses dents...”

English:

“Mademoiselle your sister always suffers with her teeth...”

1.0 IMH BHAjnnK: A Torcu

(5

K {'. K.-'IIM

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Minature on ivoiy ^ Lucienne Filippi

“When the bo(^ sinks into death, the essence of man is revealed." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

•• • •• • • • •• • • •• •• • • • • • • • •• FM(D)I.

(D)(&TUIE

Midday on January 6, 1852, Louis Braille received the last rites and gently embraced his brother, Louis-Simon, and several close friends for the last time. Even when he could no longer speak, he moved his lips with “tender movements that spoke from the heart more than words could.”' Everyone in the room was weeping.

Around four in the afternoon the death agony began, and at seven thirty, on the evening of Epiphany, the twelfth

day

of Christmas,

“Louis

Braille

entrusted

his soul to the hands of God.”'^ The infirmary at the residential school in Paris where he died was turned into The Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles

a sanctuary, where friends and students came to pray and

(National Institute for Blind Touth) in Paris, France.

cry over the loss of their respected teacher and cherished

This beautiful structure, built in l843> i^ ^tiH

ose.

Louis Braille lived and worked here as a teacher from the

friend. Virtually unknown outside Paris, Braille had just

time it opened until his death ninejears later.

turned 43-

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13 R A I :L L K : A T (5 V C 11

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lin IK- IF IT PT AIL ID A Y g

and his illness, but he warned him to be

The chronic illness that took his life was

brief and to the point. Braille disliked

tuberculosis, a prevalent malady at the

wordiness in pious sentiments as much

time. Louis was probably infected by it

as he did in ordinary speech. When

at the notjDriously unhealthy residential

distraught family and friends encouraged

school for the blind on rue Saint-Victor

him to hope for a cure, he answered

in Paris, where Braille had studied and

simply, “You know 1 do not pay in that

taught for twenty-four years. By the time

coin; you do not have to dissimulate with

the school moved to a newly built facility

me.”^ Sensing the end was drawing near,

in 1843. his health had been completely

he called in a lawyer to draw up his will —

undermined.

a document that reflects the generosity

In early December 1851, Louis Braille

and selflessness that characterized his life.

had been admitted to the infirmary of the

I

Above and facing page: The original school that Louis Braille attended, the Royal Institution for Blind Youth, was located near the river Seine on rue Saint-Victor, one of the least healtk}/ sections of Paris. The Institution was damp, unsanitaiy, and dangerous to the health of the children and teachers. It was here that Louis Braille invented the code that made it possible for blind people to read and write with ease.

Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, where

ILAST WIILIL ANUD

“a violent bleeding spell almost took his

TESTAMIEinr

life and he developed the most frightening

Hippolyte Coltat, a former student and

symptoms.”^ Braille felt himself near

close friend who stayed with Braille

death and sent for the priest, who solemnly

during his final days, left a written

administered the sacraments. Yet, the next

account saying, “Braille prepared for

day Braille felt somewhat better and told

death with the same sangfroid (self-

his friend Hippolyte Coltat, “Yesterday was one of the most beautiful and greatest

possession) he would have shown in »»6 preparing for a short trip.” First of all,

days of my life. When you have experienced

he forgave all debts. By living within his

that, you understand all the majesty and

modest income, Braille could afford to be

power of religion.... I have tasted the

generous to others, often lending money

supreme delights... 1 am convinced that

to those in need and keeping an accurate

my mission on earth has been accom¬

accounting of it. He had a good head for

plished_ It is true, 1 asked God to carry

business, wisely managed his property in

me away from the world — but I felt 1 did

Coupvray, and supplemented his teacher’s

not ask very strongly.’"^

salary by playing the organ in churches

Ten days later, Christmas arrived and

around Paris. There was time to call in

Louis Braille observed it from his bed.

his debts before he died, but Braille

He asked a close friend to offer some

chose instead to forget them.

inspiring thoughts pertinent to the season

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Next he took care of his family,

So, my dear friends, take heart and joinjour fates

making sure that his mother, Monique,

under the protection of religion andjou will attain

would receive an annuity for life. (His

great happiness, and will deserve the esteem of good

father had died in 1831, when Louis was

people, the devotion of jour friends, the affection of

22, and his sister Marie-Celine Marniesse

jour relatives — mine in particular — and especially

died ten years later in 1841.) He left other

the love of my good and respectable mother who so

securities to his goddaughter and niece,

much looks forward to holding in her arms her dear

Louise-Celine Marniesse, and his

new granddaughter Clemence.

nephew, Louis-Theodore Carron. Braille never married and left no children, but

1 begjou to embracejour parents for me and to

his letters bespeak a great affection for his

convj my respectful greetings to Mr. and Mrs.

niece and nephew.

Bertheaux whom I shall be very happy to meet someday soon, andforjou, rny dear nephew and

Paris, 5 August 1848

vej dear niece, many embraces from the heart.

My dear nephew,

Your completely devoted uncle,

I deeply regret not being able to acceptjour wedding

Louis Braille

Facing page: Throughout his life, there remained a strong emotional bond between Louis Braille and his native village of Coupvray. It was here at the Church ofSt-Pierre (St. Peter’s Church) that he was baptized on January 8, l8og, and here that his body was laid to rest in the village cemetery — about lOOjardsfrom the church.

invitation but be certain that, in spite of having to stay in Paris for rny affairs, my spirit and my heart

To his friend Coltat, Braille left

will be withjou at the town hall and at the church of

his savings account, piano, moveable

Mespuis, with ny fervent and affectionate wishes for

furniture, books, linen, scientific

jour own happiness and for the highly estimable

instruments, and “in general all 1 own

person who chose to unite in marriage her own

at the Institute.” It is significant that he

destirj tojours.

left behind scientific instruments. We can only speculate as to what they were

I am certain thatjou will always grace the two

and how he used them. Alexandre-Rene

respectable families to whichjou both belong. Your

Pignier, the head of the institute when

union will delightjour parents and the many friends

Braille was a student and teacher there,

who like me regret not being withjou on that solemn

remarked that Louis was talented in many

day, but we shall make up for it whenjou visit Paris,

areas but was “particularly disposed

Chesj, or Coupvray. I shall add that ifyou linger

toward science.”^

too long, I shall come to Milly.

As he did in life, Braille took care to acknowledge those kind people who had helped him in many small ways: the boy

4

Charities Louis Braille Supported (bequests from his will)

BRAILLE’S SAVINGS ACCOUNT OF 918 FRANCS (300 FRANCS WAS EQUIVALENT TO ONE HUNDRED DAYS’ WORK FOR A LABORER) WAS REDUCED TO 585 FRANCS AFTER EXPENSES. THE SALE OF HIS PIANO, WHICH HE HAD ACTUALLY BEQUEATHED TO COLTAT, RAISED THE

BALANCE

AGAIN,

BUT

PAYMENT

OF

A

FEW

REMAINING BILLS LEFT ONLY 780 FRANCS FOR DIS¬ TRIBUTION TO VARIOUS CHARITIES ACCORDING TO LOUIS BRAILLE’S WISHES — AN AMOUNT FAR LESS THAN HE HAD HOPED TO GIVE.

Braille

left

the

largest

bequest

to the

Institut

National desjeunes Aveugles (National Institute for B1 ind ’iouth) to help graduates find jobs. Braille had hoped to leave four or five hundred francs for this purpose, but the sum had to be reduced to 202 francs.

❖ 1 he second largest bequest went to the Society for the Care and Aid of Blind Workers

8

in France, a

group that assisted blind individuals to become self-supporting, and on whose committee Braille had served.

.A devout Roman Catholic, Braille supported the Work for the Propagation of the Faith.

Another

sum

of money

w'as

bequeathed

to

Mademoiselle Champion of .Metz to continue her work supplying embossed books.

Smaller bequests went to the Infirmary of Marie Therese to say masses for the repose of Braille’^ soul, and to the cure of Coupvray for ma* ■ ■ ■ and for “a remembrance to the church of my village. ”

who acted as his sighted guide,

of Louis Braille’s face for the purpose

another boy who worked in the

of sculpting a bust. Francois Jouffroy, a

infirmary, and the night

renowned Parisian sculptor and teacher

watchman. Many of his belong¬

at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, did the work

ings were divided up as souvenirs

from a block of marble provided by the

among relatives, colleagues,

Interior Minister.^° (The original death

former students, and friends.

mask has disappeared.) Given that Dufau

Everyone knew that this was

had initially opposed Braille’s new code,

what he would have liked.

perhaps he was making amends.

Found among his belong¬

LJ: .TiriTE

AYEUCrl.E

Louis Braille walked with a confident gait and

ings was a small wooden box

his portrait made, examples of which

on which was written, “To be

were multiplied by a marvelous art — as a

burned without opening.”^

gesture of friendship.” Most likely he was

But the box was opened before

referring to a daguerreotype, a new pho¬

it was burned and was said to

tographic process named after one of its

contain lOUs. This is curious,

inventors, Louisjacques Mande Daguerre,

since in his will he had forgiven

a Parisian artist and contemporary of

all debts. Perhaps he had

Braille’s. The original daguerreotype has

prepared the box long before

also been lost, but an engraving based on

his final illness to ensure that

it was used to make this image — the only

those who owed him money

“photographic ” likeness we have of Louis

would be relieved of their

Braille’s face.

obligations after he died. Did

that typifed his appreciation of the help he received in his life, Braille bequeathed 40 francs to the boy who acted as his sighted guide.

His delicate facial features show the

the box also contain letters from

sunken cheeks of a man who had endured

Pignier or other papers, perhaps

chronic illness, but who nonetheless

in braille? We shall never know.

retained a pleasing appearance. He was slim, fair skinned, blue-eyed (his right

was usually guided ^ a sighted boy, such as the one shown here guiding a blind man. In a gesture

Coltat tells us that “his friends had

]B iR AIIIL T IE ’ S

]Pa\ ((^ IE

eye was opaque, but streaks of blue could

Even though at his death Louis Braille

be seen in the partly opaque left eye),

was not famous — only a few friends and

and had curly blond hair. His friend

colleagues recognized his achievements —

Hippolyte Coltat records that an

Pierre-Armand Dufau, director of the

“agreeable smile” often illuminated

Institute at the time, had the foresight

the face of Louis Braille — a smile that

to have a plaster cast (“death mask”) made

his chronic illness could not erase.”

]LAie TO MIEST Monique Braille understandably wanted her son buried in his native town. A funeral service was held on January 8, 1852, at the Institute in Paris. The next day, Louis-Simon arranged for a black cart to carry Louis’s body back to Coupvray, where it was interred in the plot that already held his father and sister. Something dramatic happened in the Braille family soon after Louis was buried. Hippolyte Coltat wrote the following letter to Braille’s brother, Louis-Simon, with veiled references to “false allegations.” It is not unusual for family disagreements to break out after a death, and the Braille family was like any other. The language hints at financial mismanagement, but there are no clues as to why there was discord — perhaps some decision made by Louis-Simon had upset them. Coltat obviously felt so strongly about it that he wrote a letter imploring him to take care of himself.

Paris, 20 Janua^ 1852

SiygoodMr. Braille, We are really worried about the state ofj/our health, please drop us a line so we can set our minds at rest. I begjou, don't letjourself become upset ^jour

This image of Louis Braille was derived from a daguerreotype, taken shortly afer his death. This is the visage of a dead man; in life, he

family’s bad judgment. Let jour conscience bejour guide, which should be enough forjou. Tou also have the testimorj of all jour good deceased brother’s

kept his jes open. “Louis was of medium height, slender, quite streamlined and elegantly muscular. His head leaned forward, his blond hair curled naturally, his movements were free and eaj.”

3. (J tT I H

M W A 1 n I. K : A T O r (■ H

(. K

(•, K .N

years. At the time of his death, the braille

in 1952 and transferred to Paris after a

friends. We are all thoroughly convinced ojthe

code he had invented more than twenty-

devotional service in St. Peter’s Church

falseness of the allegations that are aimed atjou.

five years earlier had yet to be recognized

in Coupvray.

Let all that be trampled underfoot, and think only

in France as the official method for

about taking care ofyourself and getting better.

reading aitd writing among blind people.

him go; they insisted that some token of

I advisejou also not to postpone writing to me.

Official recognition came in l854' two

their homegrown genius remain in

years after his death. On the centennial of

Coupvray. A compromise was struck:

Lour very devoted,

his death, the French authorities decided

Louis Braille’s hands would remain in

H. Coltat

that his achievements were so outstanding

Coupvray. Those hands that had imparted

that Louis Braille merited a place in the

to the hands of blind people a perfected

Pantheon, alongside the most distin¬

means of reading and writing are preserved

Louis Braille’s remains lay undisturbed in

guished men and women in French

in a marble container that sits on top of

the Coupvray cemetery for one hundred

history. His remains were disinterred

his grave.

]i:;i m AIIII.. II., IK ’ H

]1 IIA IN IlD H

His native village was reluctant to let

On June 20,

hundredjears

after his death, Louis Braille's remains were disinterred and transferred from the cemete^ in Coupvray to the Pantheon in Paris. The bones of his hands, however, were kept in an urn in the cemetery of his native village.

Coupvray locals pose in front of Louis Braille’s monument, erected near Town Hall.

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Louis Braille's grave in Coupvray, France, where he was originally interred. His hands (“the most precious relics’’) are entombed in a small container that sits on top of his gravestone.

The coffn of Louis Braille in St. Peter’s Church in Coupvray before being transferred on June

22, 1952,

10

to the Pantheon in Paris.

OE TEE GEI^EX'S EY'VEIYT OP,

€ O M M IE M O MAT JI (O M S IN

IPAMIS

There was no mention of Louis Braille’s death in the Paris newspapers of 1852. One hundred years later dignitaries from all over the world converged on Paris to pay belated homage to their genius inventor, among them the deaf and blind Helen Keller. She gave a speech in what the New York Times reported as “faultlessly grammatical” French. To a rousing ovation from the hundreds of other braille readers in attendance, she Helen Kellers hands move gracefully across a page of braille.

declared, “...we, the blind, are as

is to Gutenberg.”'^ As the coffin was borne through the streets of Paris towards the Pantheon, hundreds of white canes tapped along behind, in what the Times called “a strange, heroic procession.”

^>517HELEN KELLER 1880-1968

indebted to Louis Braille as mankind

vii7ar

INDIA

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Louis Braille’s home.

“He was blessed with affectionate parents, and I feel sure he responded to their love as a plant does to sunshine."

Helen Keller

•• •

•

• • •

•

•

•

IHICDMIE

repubjjoi:e fr.\nx.vise In the first few weeks of 1809, three baby boys were born who changed the course of history: Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth

President

of the

United

States;

Charles

Darwin, British father of the theory of evolution; and Louis Braille, the French inventor of a means of literacy for

bl ind

Darwin,

people

Braille’s

worldwide. genius

is

Unlike

little

Lincoln

known

outside

and his

native land, except among those who have been touched by his gift of literacy.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

3. O I' 1 H

B H A 1 J. 1. K : A 'PC;. C I:

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1 .

Louis was a small, listless baby, too sickly even to suck milk from his mother’s breast. He was registered with the town authorities the next day and baptized three days later for fear he might die.^ Disease struck hard in early-igth-century France, and infant mortality was high, even for the wealthy. Still, under the devoted care of his mother and family, Louis grew more robust. Mother and father were thrilled with their new baby, who came along, perhaps unexpectedly, when Simon-Rene was 44 ^nd Monique 39- Simon-Rene proudly announced that Louis would be his “companion in old age.’’ The doting parents called him their little “Benjamin” — a reference to the beloved son of the biblical Jacob — and he became their favorite.

FAMKILY FUFIE Louis Braille’s father made the equipment

Simon-Rene supported his family as a

that harnessed and controlled the strength

A

of a horse. Not merely practical, his highly

Louis Braille was born in the little town

practiced by his own father some sixty

decorative harnesses were also works ofbeau^.

of Coupvray, 25 miles east of Paris, on

years earlier. In an agrarian society, a

As a boy, Louis Braille helped his father make

January 4. l809- He was the last child

bourrelier was a man of some stature, well

the colored fringes for the harnesses.

of Simon-Rene Braille and his wife of

known to the farming community and

17 years, Monique (nee Baron). They

frequently visited by neighboring farmers

already had three children: Monique-

over the course of a year.^ He made the

Catherine-Josephine, born 1793;

leather tack — collars, straps, bridles —

Louis-Simon, born 1795;

that allowed a farmer to tap and control

FAVOMITIE

©ON

harness maker (bourrelier), a trade first

Marie-

Celine, born 1797- Louis was the

the strength of a horse, the chief source

youngest by twelve years.

of power on a farm and one of the few means of transport until well into the

14

“Lavoir des Medisances" (the Gossips' Wash House), dating back to the Middle incidentally functioned as a socially important communica¬

fi

tions center. This is where the

1^

women socialized as th^ did the laundry, exchanged gossip, and

1 aKii itfiiraii

found out what was going on around town and elsewhere.

19th century. Simon-Rene was adept

Life for Monique Braille, a wife and

make hay as winter fodder.*^ Monique and

at his trade, earning the title of master

mother in rural France at the turn of the

Simon-Rene always encouraged young

harness maker before he was 27- "It was a

19th century, was arduous. Lacking today’s

Louis to join in the work. Over the years,

point of honor with the master to deliver

labor-saving amenities, Monique spent

the industrious and frugal Braille family

only work well done, to strive for perfec¬

most of her waking hours taking care of

acquired an additional seven and a half

tion in the whole and in every detail.”^

the children, preparing food, cleaning,

acres of land, and managed their own two

Young Louis was to draw on these

sewing, spinning, washing and mending

and a half acre vineyard, which yielded a

traits — attention to detail and a desire

clothes, and helping on the farm. There

year’s supply of wine, stored in huge casks

for perfection — to invent a means of

were chickens and a cow to attend to, and

in the ce liar.

literacy for people around the world.

in the fall, she and the childfen helped to

LOt'IH

BHAini..K: A Tl>:

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Sympathetic Ophthalmia “The Accident," a drawing by Andre Harfort, depicts an inquisitive and energetic three-year-old Even with today’s medical advances, it

boy climbing up to reach one of his father's sharp

is unlikely that Louis’s wounded eye

leather-working tools. This dramatic rendering is more fanciful than factual.

could have been saved, but the healthy (left) eye might have been treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppres¬ sive

drugs.

The

development

of

pathology in a healthy eye after the other eye has been injured was noticed as long ago as AD lOOO,^ though no term

existed

for this

phenomenon

CAILAMITY

veered out of control at an angle and

TIHIIE WO M IK S M (G)

stabbed the poor worker in the eye. ”

until 1830, when William Mackenzie, a leading Scottish ophthalmologist of

How young Louis Braille injured his eye

g

Medical knowledge at that time could

his time, devised the term "sympa-

in his father’s workshop one summer day

not save the eyesight of their Benjamin.

thetic

in 1812 is not clear. The most reliable

Lily water, thought to possess healing

account comes from Hippolyte Coltat,

powers, was applied by an old woman

a former schoolmate and close friend

from the village, probably doing more

of Louis’s:

harm than good to the injured right eye.

ophthalmia.”

This

is

now

thought to be an auto-immune disease in which the mechanism the body uses to repair damage goes awry and attacks

“One day, at the age of three, sitting

Louis’s other (left) eye became inflamed,

beside his father, who was working and

and the sight in that eye was eventually

lovingly thinking about his little

lost, too. The right cornea became totally

Benjamin, the boy wanted to work too,

opaque, and the left eye partially so, with

and imitate the movements he saw his

blue “striations.”^ His eyes would have

of injury might have prevented the

father make. In one of his little hands he

been very painful during this period; he

development of blinding inflamma¬

seized a leather strap, and in the other a

would have cried a lot and needed much

serpette (a slender, curved knife rather

mothering. It is not known how long the

like a small pruning hook) and there he

process continued, but by age five, two

was at work. Weakness often invites

years after the accident, Louis was

trouble: and it did: The sharp tool

completely blind.

healthy tissues. The seemingly drastic measure of surgically removing Louis Braille’s injured eye within two weeks

tion in his healthy eye.^

Lefi: Louis Braille was born in this modest farmhouse built in the l8th centuiy. At one time, the Braille properp consisted of several stone buildings on both sides of the street, but only the family home has been restored as a museum.

A Guided Tour of the Braille Home A frequent visitor to Louis Braille’s ’ birthplace is EuclidJ. Herie, a leader in the field of blindness and an avid braille reader.*^ His evocative description speaks of the deep feelings blind people have for the man who bequeathed them the gift of literacy. MAISdDM

MATTAILIE

Below: La Maison Natale de Louis

“1 have come to Coupvray, France,

Braille contains mar^ artifacts and

to visit and to restore myself at La Maison

Louis Braille’s family home in Coupvray

mementoes from his life, including this

Natale de Louis Braille, the birthplace of

has been converted into a museum open

set of dominoes that looks very much like

Louis Braille. This is a place of pilgrimage

to the public.The World Blind Union

the six-dot matrix he used for his code.

for those without sight who seek liberation

eiE

ILOmiS

IBMAKILILIE

(WBU) entered into a partnership with

through literacy. On this fine May morning,

the Commune of Coupvray in 1057 to

I am sitting on a simple bench in the back

ensure the upkeep and future of “this

garden awaiting the arrival of Mme.

most important shrine in the world for

Calvarin, the curator of this magical

bl ind people.’’” The museum is located

and beloved place. The birds sing, and

on the outskirts of Paris, near EuroDisney,

a gentle breeze is blowing. The air is

and is easily accessible by road or train

redolent of fresh hay, roses, lilacs, and

(see page II5 for more information).

the bright orange poppies that grow along the hedgerows and in the fields....

3. O l’ 1 H

B K All. 1. K: A TO re it

OK

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n

Below: The “sink” consists of a large, slightly concave stone, where a wooden pail with water from the outdoor well sits. The water drained out into thejard through the back wall.

Above: Family life revolved around this co^y kitchen/living room. Here, meals were prepared and eaten ^ the entire family, who would indulge in laughter and horseplay.

“The two days I am here are hot sleepy days — only the odd other visitor. 1 have been given full access to the house, which is very cool, thanks to the thick stone walls. The lovely oak-beamed room

Right: In this wood-fired oven, Monique Braille baked bread and pies. A recess next to the oven provided warmth for processing the Brie cheese characteristic of that region of France.

where Louis Braille was born — la salle commune is the room where all the important activities of family life would take place — the conception and birth of the four Braille children in the beautiful

IS

oak framed alcove bed; the family meals

Jernigan^^ who wrote these

prepared with the use of a wood burning

words following a visit in 1995:

bread oven and eaten at the rectangular

‘The spirit of the place

1 sat in a chair with

oak table in the centre of the room;

moved me as

a cheese recess next to the oven which

a leather strap seat in the saddle

provided sufficient warmth for the

shop and felt the worn surface.

making of Brie cheese. The room would

I looked at the tools of the

have been heated by the large fireplace;

harness-maker’s trade and held

washing done in the stone sink — a large

in my hands a sharp tool of the

flat stone from which the water drained

type that blinded Louis Braille

away through the wall into the backyard.

in that very room at that very

The room has a simple cozy charm that

bench....

belies all that would have happened here

‘The visit to Louis Braille’s

— cooking smells, family work and family

home and the reading of his

play, conversation and learning. Today it

letters caused me to wonder

is peaceful, but the room resonates with

what he thought as he was

the life that once inhabited it.

growing up and how he felt,

“The workshop of Simon-Rene

but it also caused me to think

Braille, although a reconstruction of the

about my own childhood

original, is, without a doubt, the most

and how I felt and thought.

important room in this house for those

It strengthened my determina¬

of us who are blind. Were it not for the

tion to do all

tragedy that cost Louis Braille his sight at

and continue the Louis Braille heritage,

the age of three, blind people may not

fo r except for him

have found the liberation we sought. It

as. a virtual prisoner on the farm where

is difficult to imagine what genius, if any,

1 grew up in Tennessee, hungering to

would have invented a way for blind

know and longing lor freedom. Instead,

people to read and write. For it was

1 escaped to a broader world of books and

Braille’s loss of sight, caused in his father’s

achievement, to a life of opportunity and

workshop, which provided him with the

hope, and to a distant day in France when

inspiration to create the braille system.

1 stood at the birthplace of my benefactor

1 can to preserve A corner of Simon-Rene’s workshop,

1 might still be living

where he skillfully plied his trade as a harness maker. Herejou see a well-worn workbench and chair with its seat of crossed leathern thongs.

“To give readers a sense of the power present even today in this small room,

and reached across the years to a common bond.”’’’^

I would like to quote from Dr. Kenneth

.L O 1' I M

B K A J J. n K : A T

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l‘>

Coupvray vin^ard.

‘'If the warm weather comes bach the grapes will improve and I will too” Louis Braille

•

• •••••• • • ••

•••

CCOTUPVMAY

The people of rural Coupvray embraced their native son without reservation following his accident and throughout his life. Although Braille was destined to move beyond his local village — even into the higher echelons of Parisian society— it was to Coupvray that he returned time and again to renew his spirits on the family farm and in the surrounding woodlands. Louis never lost his love of the tranquility and simple pleasures of the countryside: “My dear mother, 1 am getting bored in the big city and I’ll be happy to breathe the fresh air of the countryside, to walk with you through the vines. 1 am afraid they may not be ripening quickly, but if the warm weather comes back

the

grapes

will

improve and 1 will too.” '

The character of Coupvray has been preserved through the centuries: the tiled roofs, the fam^ards, gardens and orchards, the village shops and town cemetery. All around is open country.

BKA1I.1. K: A TOITH

O

(rKrfll M

21

TME FAMIEY COEES Understandably, Simon-Rene and Monique were devastated that their “Benjamin” could no longer see, and tormented, no doubt, by thoughts that they could have prevented the accident if only they had supervised their inquisitive son more closely. The Braille family would have known nothing about raising a blind child, and whatever they knew about blindness could not have been encouraging. Devout Roman Catholics, Monique and Simon-Rene were exposed to Biblical teachings that viewed blindness as a curse or even a punishment. In St. John’s Gospel (9:1-4), when Christ encounters a man who had been blind since birth, his disciples ask him, “Rabbi, for whose sin — for his own or his parents — was he born blind?” Jesus responded, “It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.” (Most people remember the question but not Jesus’ surprising answer.) The devil himself was referred to as “the prince of darkness.” The Talmud included a command that, upon approaching a blind lA FIN

D UNE

TRISrt

JOURNEC

person, one must pronounce the same benediction that was customary on the death of a close relative.^ Most blind people during Louis

The end of a sad day.

Braille’s lifetime lived lives of utter desti¬ tution; only those who were supported by

In this humorous drawing, two blind a well-situated family or patron managed

who had learned a trade in a school

reasonably well. Those living in rural

nevertheless returned to their mendicant

areas worked in gardening or fruit

ways, refusing to take up employment

picking, or as peddlers or beggars who

in a workshop.

roamed the country. Blind people who

men, far from the ci^, approach each other in hopes of a handout.

There were at least two other blind

lived near cities worked as musicians,

men in Coupvray around Louis Braille’s

town criers, bell ringers, water carriers,

time. An 1831 report to the Sous-Prefet

or circus performers, but most lived near

of Coupvray lists, along with Louis

the edge as beggars or even prostitutes.

Braille, a 66-year-old man who became

Some blind people actually preferred to

blind as an adult from a “paralysis. ”

be beggars because of the freedom it

He had been a day laborer, husband,

entailed: they were answerable to no one.

and father of several children before he

There were instances where blind beggars

went blind, but was now destitute.

.,

1 O r I M

13 « A 1 U J. K : A T O T C JJ

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(

The other blind man listed was a 49"year-

Remote though Coupvray was from

quarters and speaking in foreign tongues.

old bachelor who gradually became blind

the commotion in Paris, it could not

for no apparent reason, and could no

escape the terrible consequences of

longer earn enough to meet his needs.^

Napoleon’s constant war with the rest

harvest coupled with the exactions of the

of Europe. Several times the town was

military caused hunger throughout the

Fortunately, Simon-Rene and

Poverty struck Coupvray hard in 1816 — the year without a summer.^ A poor

%

Monique were down-to-earth people.

overrun by armies — both Napoleon’s

land and made people susceptible to

Trusting their instincts, they decided that

and those of his opponents to the east.

disease. A smallpox epidemic ravaged

Louis would receive an education and that

In January 1814, Napoleon’s retreating

Coupvray that same year. Smallpox — a

he would be encouraged to participate in

armies made huge demands on all

disfiguring, often fatal, disease, accounting

the normal activities of family life. Their

peasants in the region for grain and

for one-in-three deaths among children

little boy was not going to be like those

animals. After the national army

— was the leading cause of blindness at

“unfortunate beings who sit and wile [sic]

departed, the Russians, en route to

the turn of the century. (Fortunately,

their long life of night away within doors,

Paris, entered town a month later,

although Simon-Rene refused to have his

unseen and unknown by the world.”

and they too lived off the farmers.

family vaccinated,

It helped that the Braille family was

Between March and June of 1815,

no one in the Braille

household became infected.)

literate — a rarity among villagers at that

Napoleon returned to lead France until

time. A friend of the Braille family later

his ultimate defeat near Waterloo. For the

niTinui

reported that Louis learned the alphabet

next three years, France was occupied by a

As war continued to rain misery on the

at an early age, at home, by feeling the

multi-national army to ensure compliance

village of Coupvray, St. Peter’s Church

shapes of letters made with upholstery

with the terms of the Vienna peace settle¬

had to find a new priest when Abbe

nails that had been hammered into a

ment. Thus, the nation of Braille’s

Pillon, who had baptized Louis Braille,

wooden board.^

childhood was a defeated, humiliated one.

died early in 1815.^ Father Jacques Palluy,

For several months, the Braille household

a learned man and former Benedictine

'(’ O IN 1-3 IE Q U IE IN € IE H

was required to billet Prussian soldiers.

monk, was discovered to be eminently

DIF WAM

Billeting of soldiers required more than

qualified. In such a small, close-knit

France, at the time of Louis Braille’s

simply tolerating unruly houseguests.

community. Father Palluy came to know

birth, was at the peak of its power.

Soldiers were inclined to demand the

the Braille family well. He could tell that

Napoleon Bonaparte had won successive

best rooms, eat the best food, drink all

young Louis was intelligent and full of

victories over such great nations as

the wine, and sometimes even burn the

curiosity about the world he could no

Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Paris was

furniture and hit defenseless women and

longer see. In the peace and quiet of the

no longer convulsed by a revolutionary

childre n.^ It must have been distressing

old presbytery, near St. Peter’s Church,

violence, as it had been in the 179OS, but

for the whole family, but especially for

or outdoors under the trees on warm

had become the capital of a vast empire

young Louis, to live with the intrusion

days, Abbe Palluy began to teach a boy

that encompassed Western Europe.

of strangers, eating and sleeping in close

who was eager to learn.Part of his

4

[PAIR 11Bnil

]i»iriiie«t

education included a strong Christian belief in love, kindness, and humility — attributes that became deeply engrained in Louis Braille’s character. After a year of private tutoring. Father Palluy, like Louis’s parents, realized that Louis’s blindness was no barrier to acquiring an education. In l8l6, when the town appointed a new teacher, Antoine Becheret, Palluy approached him

This list of students

with a most unusual request: Would the

enrolled in the public

young teacher accept the seven-year-old

school in Coupvray (23

Louis as a student in the village school?

November 1818) shows

Becheret agreed. For the next two years,

that Louis Braille attended

a boy who lived nearby came to the Braille

school with his niece,

home and took Louis by the hand, and

Josephine Celine Carron.

together they walked up the steep road to school. Louis was the only blind child in the class, and one of the brightest.

His

superior intelligence was detected almost immediately by Becheret: “The child dumbfounded him with his responses by turns pertinent and amusing.’’” Alas, this promising arrangement was short-lived. In the aftermath of the French Revolution many traditional

opinion, it reduced the role of the teacher

practices were dismantled with little

and could not be carried out during the

these revolutionary changes and declared

thought for unintended consequences.

summer months when so many children

the school not only anti-Christian but a

Trouble began in l8l8, when the school

left school to help with the harvest.

sham (comedie).'^ Several students left at

was forced to adopt a new teaching system

Threatened with the loss of his job if he

the end of the year to attend schools

called “mutual instruction,’’ where

did not cooperate, Becheret unwillingly

where traditional practices were still

students taught one another under the

complied with the new teaching method

intact, and Palluy sought a similar

supervision of a teacher. Becheret told the

and was sent to the School of Mutual

situation for Louis. Becheret had

mayor that he would not adopt it; in his

Instruction in Melun for training.

heard of a boarding school in Paris

LOTIM

Abbe Palluy was equally alarmed by

1. K: A TOl’Cil

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that accepted blind children, gave them

and his court. M. d’Orvilliers had been

suitable for Louis. To send their favorite

an education, and taught them various

so impressed with Haiiy’s teaching

child so far away — twenty-five miles was

trades to help them become self-sufficient.

innovations that he had funded several

four hours by stagecoach — to the imposing,

Palluy approached the lord of the manor

of Haiiy s benevolent projects.*^ He

noisy, and noisome capital must have

in Coupvray, the Marquis d’Orvilliers,

agreed to write to the school director,

been a heart-breaking proposition for

for his help in securing a place for Louis.

requesting Louis’s admittance.It is

them both. Their eldest son and daughter

doubtful that Louis would have been

had already married, and their younger

accepted without this connection.

daughter, Marie-Celine, was to be wed

Fortuitously, d’Orvilliers was already somewhat familiar with the school. On December 26, 1786, he had been present

in June. With Louis’s departure, the

at Versailles when Valentin Haiiy, the

IM ILOTLJIS’S BEST

school’s founder and a pioneer in the

IHTEMEST

education of the blind, had arranged for

When Simon-Rene and Monique were

would be in Louis’s best interest to attend

his students to demonstrate their newly

told that a school for the blind existed

the school. On February 15, 1819, having

acquired skills before King Louis XVI

in Paris, at first they were not sure it was

just reached the age of ten, Louis boarded

nest would be empty. Eventually they were persuaded that it

a stagecoach for Paris with his father. This Journey marked the end of Louis’s secure childhood. Raised in a loving and attentive family in a small town where the Brailles were well known and respected, Louis Braille showed enormous fortitude in leaving home. Such inner strength was not surprising: at a young age, Louis had seen war, famine, disease — endured even the loss of his eyesight. He must have been aware, if not consciously, that to be alive was to be vulnerable. But Louis also knew that he could rely on his family. These firm roots were a source of strength and renewal that he would draw on throughout his short life. This letter Louis wrote to his mother from the school in Paris shows a yearning to be near family and old friends, even as : iuf)!'ra\ woodlands.

an adult.

Paris, 10 September 184-7

Marniesse^^ family, and, above all, my goddaughter who should be well behaved since she has just made

My dear mother,

her First Communion. I am not forgetting the people

I am planning to come and spend next week withjou;

who have honored me with their friendship.

.\ well just outside the Braille house was the family’s only source offresh

I plan to arrive in C/iessy Mondart' cu qT. (%0

I

A

“I will make the blind to read. " Valentin Haiiy

• • •• • • •• • • •• • • •

• • ••

• • •• •• ••

VAILIEMTIN MAtrY

When the stagecoach carrying Louis Braille and his father pulled up at the Institution

Royale

des Jeunes Aveugles

on

February

15,

1819,*

the

master

craftsman must have been appalled at the dilapidated condition of the school. Most of the building,

a former seminary and temporary prison during the

Facing page: The decrepit building that housed the school had been used as a prison for refractory priests during the revo¬

revolution,^ was more than 200 years old. Inside were narrow, winding stairs —

lution. In September iyg2, following the overthrow

one for boys and one for girls, to ensure segregation of the sexes. For students

of the monarchy, prisoners were thrown from the 4tb

who had to use their hands to guide themselves, the clammy walls and rickety

foor windows to their deaths.

staircases were a “challenge hurled at the blindness of the children.The school piped in filthy, untreated water from the nearby Seine for cooking and washing, just two hogsheads per day (at most, 280 gallons) and hardly adequate for up to 90 students plus month.5

15 employees."^

The children were allowed one bath per

Still, the Paris school was far better than anything previously available

to blind children born into modest circumstances.

1^ O r 1 H

15 H A 1 U I. K : A T O T C : I

MaiDy’s

ieipifmany

they had only an apparent and ridiculous

The education that Louis Braille

enjoyment: The blind, said we to

received at the Institution would

ourselves, do they not know objects by

have been unthinkable but for the

the diversity of their shapes? Are they

enthusiasm, dedication, courage,

mistaken in the value of a coin? Why

and foresight of one man, Valentin

could they not distinguish a C from a G in

Haiiy. His determination to educate

music, or an a from an f in spelling if

blind children was sparked as a

their characters were rendered plain?”^

young man, when he witnessed a degrading spectacle at the popular

IMTEMFMIETIEM

street fair of Saint Ovide in I77l-

TO TME IKINO

There, an “orchestra” made up of

Born November 13th, 1745' into a

nine blind men from the Quinze-

hard-working family of weavers from

Vingts, a residence for blind

Saint-Just-en-Chaussee in Picardy, Haiiy

people founded by Saint Louis

had a tenacious temperament that proved

around 1260,' entertained a crowd

essential in the years ahead when he was

of people out for a good time.

ridiculed for his belief that blind people

g

Tricked out in long red robes,

Flyer distributed at the Saint Ovide Fair. This humiliating display of blind musicians made thejoung Valentin

determined

to improve the lives of blind people.

could be educated. Haiiy made his living

and wearing pointed dunce caps

as an interpreter, eventually acquiring the

and opaque glasses, the ensemble

honorary title “interpreter to the king,”

played horribly discordant “music.”

which surely helped him drum up business.

Seated on a peacock throne, the

He was indeed a clever man: he could

“conductor,” wearing wooden clogs

work in lO languages, though most of his

and a hat with ass’s ears, tried unsuccess-

business consisted of translating commer¬

fully to keep time.

cial and legal documents, and was adept

The crowd laughed

uproariously at this bizarre performance,

at deciphering codes — a skill always in

which was a great money maker for the

demand. Haiiy’s fascination with language

owner of the cafe where it was staged.

might well account for his unusual

The 26-year-old Haiiy was not amused. “A very different sentiment possessed our soul,” he said later, “and we conceived, at that very instant, the possibility of realizing, to the advantage of these unfortunate people, the means of which

interest in teaching blind youngsters to read and write.

AG IE GIF

human suffering could be alleviated if

IE: m u. u g imr IE m Rii ]e n t

reason were applied to solving social,

Haiiy’s disgust at the St. Ovide spectacle

political, cultural, economic, and

arose in part from his Christian back¬

technical or scientific problems.

ground, which inculcated sympathy for

Cla ims of authority from either

suffering humanity (his brother was a

th rone or altar must never

priest).His thinking also reflected new

be allowed to interfere

attitudes toward the human condition

with free enquiry.

12

embraced by some educated people during a period called the Enlightenment — basically “a loose, informal, wholly unorganized coalition of cultural critics, religious skeptics, and political reformers from Edinburgh to Naples, Paris to Berlin, Boston to Philadelphia.”” Such thinkers rejected the idea that

Valentin Haiiy (right), founder of the frst school for the blind in Europe,and his famous

fate or God determined the condition of

priest-scientist brother, Abbe Rene-Just,

human beings. They believed instead that

a founder of the science of mineralogy.

Denis Diderot (1713 1784) One of the most original and influential figures of the

Earlier, in 1749' Diderot published his Lettre sur les aveuglcs

French Enlightenment was the essayist, polymath, and philos¬

a la usage de ceux qui voient (Letter on the Blind for the Use of

opher Denis Diderot, whose Encyclopedie became an important

Those Who See), mainly to display his C|ualifications to be

organ of educated opinion in pre-Revolutionary France and

editor of the proposed Encvclopcdte.'’^ It landed him in jail.

elsewhere. Published under constant threat of government

What shocked conventional thinkers was Diderot’s statement

censorship and withdrawal of the license to publish, the

that the famous blind mathematician, Nicholas Saunderson,

Eng/clopedie took twenty-one years to complete, from 175* to 1772

(see sidebar) had claimed he would believe in God only if he

Diderot assembled an impressive group of writers, scientists,

could touch llim.'^ Diderot seemed to be denying the

and priests to write articles for a project that eventually took

e.xistence of God, and for that, he had to pay the price.

the form of 35 volumes (l2 of which were illustrations).

r>,.. 1,01 JH

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Nicholas Saunderson (1682-1739)

One of the most accomplished blind individuals of the 18th century was Nicholas Saunderson, Lucasian Professor of

“their lamentations being more uneasy to him than the approach of death.

Mathematics at the University of Cambridge in England. Born in Yorkshire in 1682, he became totally blind as an infant when smallpox destroyed his eyeballs.'^ His mathematical genius became apparent at an early age, but conventional education at a private academy did not suit him, and he soon left. Instead, he studied in his own way, using only a good author and someone to read to him. “By the strength of his own Genius he could easily master any Difficulty that occurred therein.”'^ Too poor to be formally admitted, he was allowed to study at Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he was treated with great respect and given lodgings and free access to the library. He was such an outstanding teacher that he could scarcely find time to accommodate all those who sought instruc¬ tion. When the highly prestigious position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics became vacant, Saunderson was the best-qualified person — his candidacy was endorsed by none other than Sir Isaac Newton.

18

S ince he lacked the requisite degree, Q^ueen

Anne ordered that he be awarded an L.L.D., “Doctor of Letters.” His inaugural speech “was delivered from memory, in Latin with such just Elocution, and in a manner so graceful as to gain him the universal Applause of his Audience. ”*^ Professor Saunderson was more than a calculating machine. He enjoyed many hobbies, including horseback riding, hunting, and poetrv. He played the flute like a master. After several years of suffering from scurvy, which caused numbness in his limbs and made one foot gangrenous, he died in 1739- As the end drew nigh, Saunderson gave his wife, Abigail, and their two children his blessing: “I wish you all happiness; live virtuously, and learn in me to die quietly. ” He then asked them to leave the room.

yA^iciioi.r4 .r ^Sso:a; yl_-\'

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IBILIINID

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give me that which is wanting in me.”^'

Haiiy was familiar with Diderot’s Lettre

Haiiy later said that Diderot’s

(see sidebar) and had probably also read

description of the blind man from

Diderot’s two-page article on the blind,

Puiseaux teaching his sighted son to read,

Aveugles, published some two decades

and of Nicholas Saunderson teaching

earlier in the first volume of the Enc)/clopedie.

mathematics to a circle of sighted men,

From Haiiy’s point of view, the chief interest of Diderot’s Lettre lay in his

emboldened him to dare to teach blind people to read and write.

descriptions of the competence of blind individuals. Diderot had visited a blind

A

man in Puiseaux (whose name we are

A woman who greatly inspired Haiiy’s

never told) and was astonished at the

mission was Maria Theresia von Paradis,

man’s capacious and accurate memory and

a celebrated young musician from Vienna

stubborn independence. Born blind into

(see sidebar). Accompanied by her

a prosperous family, he depleted his

devoted mother, she spent six months in

fortune during a brawling, riotous youth.

Paris as part of a European concert tour,

Eventually, he settled down, married, and

creating a sensation wherever she performed.

had a sighted son whom he taught to read

One man reported, “The talent of Made¬

by means of letters of the alphabet in

moiselle von Paradis on the harpsichord,

relief. This blind man earned his keep

despite her total blindness, is the most

by making liqueurs to pique refined

astonishing thing in the world.’’^^

Parisian palates. The blind man of Puiseaux could

©]EN^a\T1I©N

An offer to demonstrate her skills and the adaptive equipment she used appeared

Early attempts were made to reproduce illustrations and maps in relief, like this Leaning Tower of Pisa from a much later period.

“was full of the most delicate sentiments.” Haiiy said.^^ During her music tour, Maria von

thread a needle and do pretty pieces of

in the Journal de Paris, April 24.

Paradis also met Ludwig Weissenbourg,

needlework. His musical aptitude was

and Haiiy seized this opportunity to visit

an educated blind man from Mannheim

such that he could perform a piece after

von Paradis at her lodgings. There, he

with whom she had previously exchanged

being told only the notes and their values.

learned that she could both read and write

letters. Music was a common interest,

Asked whether he would like to have

using a portable press that pricked letters

for he was an accomplished flautist. He

eyesight, the confident man remarked

onto a sheet of paper. This ingenious

supplied her with a board for doing

that, but for his curiosity about the nature

device had been made for her by fellow

math, tactually identifiable playing cards,

of eyesight, he would just as soon have

Austrian Wolfgang von Kempelen, a

and maps in relief. These maps were a

longer arms. “[T]he eye sooner ceases to

skilled mechanic who had taught her to

feat of human ingenuity, using beads of

see than the hand to touch, that to improve

read by means of cutout cardboard letters.

different sizes and glazed sand to mark

the organ 1 have would be as good as to

A letter she had written by this means

geographic features.

3..0rJM BHAll.t. Ki A TOrCH

OF

: 'I

Maria Theresia VON Paradis (1759-1824)

TTiis statue of Valentin Hai^ with his first student,

VALtN-HN llA'

Francois Le Sueur, a ly^ear-old blind beggar, stands in the forecourt of the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris. In 1784, Ha^ agreed to

The cause of Maria Theresia von Paradis’s blindness is a mystery. It w'as

pay the boy what he would have earned from begging

described as “convulsive

if he would become his student.

twitching ” in her eyes at the age of three.The

TIFIIE PIBST STTDErfT

famous, soon to be

More than ten years passed before Haiiy

notorious. Viennese

was able to put his theories into practice.

pioneer of hypnosis,

In 1784-. he was introduced to Francois

Fredrich Anton Mesmer

Le Sueur, a blind teenager who helped to

(i734‘JSJ5)> claimed he could cure her,

support his impoverished family by

but she became very nervous under his

begging near churches. Whenever the

treatments and eventually returned to her

youth received a coin from a passerby, he

parents’ home. Whatever the facts, she

scurried away to share it with his three

hAlJirm LR LA TTWJICHrftt STAT*.* Lma OwKfctwI

sisters and two brothers, the youngest still

remained blind. hi*'

being suckled by their mother.^^ Le Sueur

Her inborn musical skill would

had become blind from “convulsions”

probably not have flourished if she had not had access to the best teachers because of

Well aware that Maria von Paradis

when just six weeks old. Determined not

her social connections. Her father was the

enjoyed advantages unavailable to most

to be a burden on his family, he took to

godson of Empress Maria-Theresa, who

people, Haiiy was nevertheless convinced

begging as soon as he was old enough.

was also the mother of Marie-Antoinette,

that it would be feasible for less-exalted

Queen of France. The Empress granted

blind people to master the specialized

life and, on his own initiative, contacted

von Paradis a stipend to help her obtain an

techniques she and others used; “The aim

the Philanthropic Society,^^ an organiza¬

excellent musical and general education.

we had before us was the following: to

tion that assisted young blind people

rescue the blind from the distressing and

from poor families. Unfortunately, at age

Paradis convinced influential people

even dangerous burden which idleness

17, he was just over the age limit set by

throughout Europe that blind people

creates; to help them find a means of

the Society to qualify for a pension.

could use their sense of touch to acquire

livelihood in pleasant and easy tasks; to

all was not lost. By great good fortune,

an education. In later years she devoted

integrate them into society; to comfort

Haiiy had just a few months earlier

herself to composition and teaching,

them in their misfortune....

presented to the Society his plan for

especially encouraging young female

in mind, he set out to develop the means

educating blind people. .An anonymous

musicians. Her music is still performed.

to educate poor blind children.

Society official, identified only as a

Through her personal example, von

With this

In late adolescence, he sought a better

But

“generous friend of mankind, ” remembered Haiiy’s presentation and offered Le Sueur the opportunity to participate in this plan.^^ Haiiy gladly took on this highly intelligent youth, even though his family

Frangois Le Sueur, a blind illiter¬

complained that Haiiy’s proposal would

ate beggar when Valentin Haiiy

deprive them of an indispensable source

began to teach him, learned to

of income.Far from wealthy, and with a

read and write in three months.

wife and two children to support, Haiiy

To his right is a case of type used

nevertheless agreed to pay Francois as much

to print pages readable ^ touch;

as he would have made by begging, if he

at his lef is a small printingj)ress.

would take lessons. Thus began, in June

Behind him is an embossed music

1784. a most unusual tutorial arrange¬

score meant to be read tactually,

ment: the teacher paying the student!

but not really practical. The globe

Progress was swift, even though both

and maps, including one of South

participants were making it up as they

America hanging on the wall,

went along.

attest to his knowledge of

By means of wooden letters,

Francois quickly learned the alphabet.

geographj.

Soon there was another breakthrough. One day, while casually running a finger over a printed funeral notice, Le Sueur asked if the shape he could feel was a letter “o.” Indeed it was. The pressure of the printing press had left an indentation

FRANCOIS

LF.

SUFAJR,^

in the paper that sensitive fingers could identify.

Haiiy then deliberately

.SOt^S-lNPTITlTTEf'JR.

ENFAlsrS-AVEirGLRS

embossed letters of the alphabet into Umiurwf ^tzr la- SOCIRTR PllIL.i^lSl'TROPJC^Z^K'

several sheets of paper and found that Le Sueur was capable of recognizing the different letters. After three months of practice, he could both read and write. Late that fall, Haiiy and his first student demonstrated their joint achievement

E O r J M

B HA J EL E: A T O f (

O ;

f, K

.a

before a distinguished gathering at the

Philanthropic Society, were chosen as

by the fingers. No one before Haiiy had

Academic Bureau of Writing. Haiiy first

most likely to benefit from Haiiy’s new

ever tried seriously to make printing

read a “Memoir on the education

teaching methods. The Society also paid

available to ordinary blind people, or

of the blind,” and then a nervous Le

Le Sueur to teach other blind students the

had established collections of books

Sueur demonstrated his skill at reading

skills he himself had so recently acquired.

printed in relief. Three-and-a-half

with his fingers. Among the texts he read

As the number of students grew, more

centuries had elapsed after Gutenberg’s

were excerpts from the life of Nicholas

space was needed, and once again the

innovation of printing before the same

Saunderson, a distinguished blind mathe¬

Philanthropic Society lived up to its

benefit was offered to blind people.

matician. In a process resembling typesetting,

name, renting space in 1786 for the

Le Sueur “wrote” phrases dictated to him

embryonic Institution at 18 rue Notre-

solve all manner of technical problems.

and performed mathematical calculations.^^

Dame-des-Victoires. This may be

Eirst, typefaces used for printing ordinary

regarded as the official opening of

books were of no help because they are

1784. Haiiy and Le Sueur gave another

rinstitution des Enfants Aveugles

cast in metal as a mirror image, and

demonstration, this time at the Royal

(Institution for Children Born Blind),

composed in a line of type set from right

Academy of Sciences. This meeting got

the first educational establishment for the

to left. Embossing raised letters, on the

off to a bad start. When asked to read a

blind in Europe.

other hand, requires “right-reading.”

One month later, on December 22,

passage of embossed text selected by a

Haiiy aimed to give his students

Breaking new ground, Haiiy had to

During “printing,” strong, dampened

member of the audience, Le Sueur could

instruction in three areas: a broad general

paper is pressed hard against the metal

not make it out. Haiiy stopped the

education that included reading, writing,

type, which indents the paper to yield

demonstration after only three words,

arithmetic, history and geography; music;

an impression of print in relief. Haiiy,

saying that the young man was having

and manual skills that might help them to

therefore, had to arrange for type

trouble. Soon Le Sueur was back on track,

pay their way in the world. A free thinker,

founders to prepare the dies and matrices

blushing with pleasure when the audience

Haiiy advanced the idea that a general

from which to cast right-reading type.

applauded his success.Similar exercises

education should be available to girls

This was an expensive business,

were given before other organizations,

as well as boys.

carried out under the auspices of the Philanthropic Society and paid for by

and each time a collection was taken up to benefit the Philanthropic Society.

T300KS3 FOIR TiEIF 13ILII TIB The school had been functioning only a

;P 0;R

C"

IILBHIEIT

the financier M. Rouille de I’Etang.’^^ Many modifications were made to the

short time when Haiiy published his Essai

printing press so that it would produce

sur I'education des aveugles (Essay on the

enough pressure to impress the shape of

Haiiy now felt confident enough to open a

Education of the Blind) in 1786.^^ By

the type on paper. Likewise, it was

small school in his apartment on rue

then, Haiiy had accomplished much. He

necessary to find paper that could be

Coquilliere. Twelve students, all poor

had above all devised a way to fabricate

dampened yet would not tear under

children receiving stipends from the

books in embossed type that could be read

pressure. How damp should the paper

;b d;rit

;bil:iin;d

be to yield good characters in relief? How can the paper be kept from sticking to the metal type during embossing? (Dry soap was found to do the trick.) All these details had to be ironed out before embossed print could be produced. When these difficulties were overcome, it was relatively easy to train blind children to compose the lines and pages of type, and to use sturdy young men to operate the press [see illustration on page 51]- Since they could be embossed on one side ^ only, pages were pasted back-to-back, and then bound together by sewing them between thick cardboard covers. Voi7a — an embossed book. For material to be read by both blind and sighted people, “Haiiy Noire” was provided in which the embossed letters were also inked in black. This was done by placing a parchment sheet smeared with ink on top of the paper to be embossed.*^'

w I n A IN

(’

IIA iL yy o ik h

One of the relentless challenges Haiiy faced was how to keep the school afloat financially. An auspicious report issued early in 1785 by the Royal Academy of Sciences gave the school some much-

Print letters were embossed on paper so that blind children could read ^ touch.

needed early publicity. “We have seen

The p/pe was composed and the pages were embossed ^ the blind children at

this school," wrote the commissioners'*^^

the school with the advice of Clousier, the king's printer.

appointed by the Academy, “which presents a curious and touching spectacle. Several

J. (Jt’lH

BKAIM. K:

A

T Of (’ll

OK

(i K ?( I f m

37

students. His most ambitious endeavor was a concert given before the royal family at Versailles on December 26th, 1786."^^ There, to the utter astonishment of the audience, twenty-four blind youngsters showed what they had learned. In a particularly dramatic moment, the king chose a book and dictated a phrase to a blind student, who wrote it down using Haiiy’s “typesetting” technique. The former beggar, Francois Le Sueur, who had been asked to leave the room, now re-entered and read aloud the phrase, which he could not possibly have heard. Later, Le Sueur performed some mathe¬ matical calculations, and other children read aloud from their embossed books. The audience was flabbergasted when a young sighted boy received a reading lesson from a blind student. Throughout young blind people of both sexes, taught

Correspondence soon vied with one

this concert, members of the audience felt

by a master who is also blind, happily

another for the privilege of having the

such tenderness for the children that

receive instruction that is given with

young sightless pupils stammer (to

tears flowed down many a cheek. The

particular care, and they all seem to

borrow the expression of their instructor)

children were so beloved by the court that

applaud each other at having acquired

the first elements of reading, arithmetic,

they were invited to stay a few more days

this new way of life.

history, geography, and music at their

as houseguests.’^^

The impact of the Academy’s report

sessions; and these exercises were always

These concerts were the high point

was felt almost immediately: “The school

concluded by collections for their benefit.

of the school’s early history. What better

for the blind became absolutely the rage.

Donations poured in from all sides, and

“word-of-mouth” could Haiiy hope for?

All classes of society were interested in

the funds were placed in the treasury of

Henceforth, Haiiy was permitted to call

the establishment, and each one strove to

the Philanthropic Society.”'^'^

his school the Institution Royale des

out-do the other. Eminent musicians and

Haiiy did his part to sustain the

Jeunes Aveugles (Royal Institution for

actors gave performances for its benefit.

fund-raising effort, organizing public

Blind Youth). But the situation was to

The Lyceum, the Museum, the Salon de

demonstrations to showcase his best

deteriorate quickly as a bloody revolution

convulsed France in 1789- The financial

granted, but at a price: the school was

in order that his students might not

support the royal family promised did not

nationalized injuly 1791- Furthermore,

starve.53 To add to his problems, those

materialize, and many wealthy philan¬

the school would have to merge with that

students who had completed their

thropists who had underwritten Haiiy’s

for deaf-mutes, an arrangement that

education but could not find jobs stayed

work fled abroad — fearing for their

proved impossible. Inevitably, intense

on as “man-students," giving ammunition

fortunes, even their lives. Fervent

discord arose between Haiiy and the

to his critics, who argued that blind children

revolutionaries belittled institutions

ambitious, “stiff-necked”^° priest,

would always be wards of the state.

for blind children and deaf-mutes as

Abbe Roch Ambroise Sicard,^*

“infamous relics of absolutist charity and

who headed up the school for

clerical superstition.”"^^ “Philanthropy,

deaf-mute children. The

which has so lately been the fashion in

situation improved only tem¬

Paris, gave place to a demoniac and

porarily in 1794> when the

blood-thirsty cruelty which has no parallel

deaf-mutes moved to another

in the history of nations. The best blood

location, and Haiiy’s school was

of France flowed like water, and all thought

moved to a hostel once used by a

of humanity seemed banished from the

religious order, the Daughters of

minds of the frantic barbarians who rule

St. Catherine, as a night asylum

her.”"^^ The Philanthropic Society, which

for girls. There, a government

had taken charge of this noble enterprise

policy of strict supervision of

from its inception, was broken up, its

the students was imposed, as it

members exiled or imprisoned (many of

was in all educational institutions

those imprisoned were guillotined)."^^

at that time. Where previously

H Y M N E

,

'

A L’ETRE SUPREME. Paroles du, CUoj/en Laurence ,

Depute A Us

Convention Rationale. Mujujue du Citoj/en GeRsis , Second Instituteur des A VE ucles-Tr^ r-^lEiE uRS.,

PREMIER (EUVRE DE MUSIQUE . SOATI

HB

DE L’INSTITUT

X, A.

NATIONAL

DES

AVEUGLES-TRAVAILLEURS^

Although the revolution sought to

both Haiiy and Sicard had been I

Dim*

rebuild society on the principles of “Liberty,

relaxed in their oversight, now

Equality, and Fraternity,” in fact it proved

the children were watched

disastrous for Haiiy’s own revolutionary idea

constantly. At night, the

of educating blind children to become full,

dormitories were illuminated,

self-supporting members of society.

and at each end of the chamber

For severaljears, profits firom the printing shop

an adult supervisor had his or her bed.^^

helped raise needed funds for Ha^s schooi^^

MATTHCONAILISATIION

This must have been particularly

The blind students printed numerous bulletins,

Where would Haiiy find sponsors now?

unnerving for the blind children, who

The only feasible source of money was

could not see if they were being watched.

the government, and Haiiy petitioned the Constituent Assembly for funding. It was

A'LA cbNYE^'TION NATIONALE.

«

handbills, posters, and tracts, for which there was an insatiable demand during those anarchic, politically charged times.

For lack of funds, Haiiy was said to have eaten only one meal a day for a year

LO U 1 H

B H A 1 L 1. K : A T O I' f H

OK

(1 K

V)

sky-blue tunic, pink sash, and white

Haiiy s protests did not sit well with the

MIKVO ]L inriKDM

robe,®° while the blind boys’ choir sang.

new Interior Minister, Jean-Antoine

Despite his early connections with

Napoleon Bonaparte would later sneer at

Chaptal. In a stern repost to Haiiy, he

royalty, Haiiy had, by the 179OS' become

this “religion in dressing gowns.

wrote: “Citizen: it is with as much pain

,11 ©I MB TMIE

an enthusiastic supporter of the revolu¬

%

as surprise that I saw in public circulation

tion, assuming the position of secretary

MEILOCATKOM TO TMIE

several documents in your name that

of the Arsenal Section Revolutionary

(Q HI IM S E-VI M OT B

are misleading about the government’s

Committee. He surely hoped that his

Throughout the l8th century, and even

policies_Not only can such a provoca¬

actions would help his school survive

beyond Napoleon’s seizure of power,

tion not be justified on any account, but

amidst the dangers and uncertainties of

the public treasury was perilously short

it is reprehensible when it is put out by

the revolution, but in the long term his

of money — in part a consequence of

an instructor paid by the government and

behavior proved damaging to himself

France’s support of the American

obliged by your status as well as your duty

and to the school. While at the Arsenal

Revolution — and the question was raised

to conform to the administrative measure

location, the school changed its name,

as to why precious funds had to be used to

it believes should be adopted by the

once again, to the Institute for the

support two organizations for the blind.

establishment you lead.”®3

Working Blind (Institut des Aveugles

Interior Minister Lucien Bonaparte,

Travailleurs), a name bestowed upon

Napoleon’s brother, thought it would

the transfer was put into effect. On

the institute by members of the public

make financial sense to combine Haiiy s

February 16, 1801, with no time to

who admired “the working blind” and

school with the Quinze-Vingts (see

make preparations, the students were

wanted to differentiate them from

sidebar), a richly endowed asylum for

transferred, bag and baggage, to the

indigent blind people.5^

indigent blind adults located in a former

Quinze-Vingts on rue de Charenton.

Haiiy also became very involved with Theophilanthropy, a “natural religion”57

Despite Haiiy s determined efforts,

barracks with plenty of space. Getting wind of the proposal, Haiiy

ILIFE IMBIEE THE

that offered solace to people who felt a

realized that such a move would endanger

(Q HI IM Z E-VIM OT S

spiritual emptiness after the eclipse of the

his school and eliminate his autonomy.

Given the parlous state of the national

Roman Catholic church. (Some people

He criticized the proposal in three notes

treasury, the blind children were expected

considered Theophilanthropy a front for

to officials, and, tactlessly, had his

to pay their own way by producing

subversives, even a Masonic plot!)5^

students print up a l6-page brochure

saleable goods in workshops specially

Haiiy held the first meeting of this new

opposing the government, which he

erected for them. Each day they labored

“church” in January 1797 ^t the Institute,

distributed widely across Paris. Lucien

for eight hours to spin carded wool, make

which continued to serve as headquarters

Bonaparte was dismissed from his

sheets, and mill tobacco (even though it

for the cult’s management committee.59

position (he was the only Bonaparte to

was against regulations). Only two hours

Haiiy conducted the services dressed in a

disapprove of his brother’s policies), and

a day were allotted for education.

4(1

The children were closely supervised

egregious act was to sabotage the sale of

his students gain a sympathetic hearing

at all times, to make sure they did not

woolen yarn made by the blind girls. He

from Interior Minister Chaptal.

touch one another, which might lead to

actually told manufacturers who had come

immoral behavior. (The easy-going Haiiy

to the Q^uinze-Vingts ready to buy that

A KIETY

had encouraged contact between the sexes

there was nothing to see, and that it was 66 his property in any case.

Within a year of Haiiy’s dismissal, Paul

and was proud of those students who married and formed their own families.

Haiiy’s rebellion made his position

l8oi,

IDil lR lE UT D;R

Seignette was appointed agent-general of the Quinze-Vingts. Only 33 years old, he^

“The fact of being forbidden to touch one

untenable.

another under any pretext imprisoned the

wrote to the Q^uinze-Vingts agent-general,

blind children and smart enough to seek

students within themselves as effectively as

Charles Bouret,^^ “I know that citizen

advice, including that of Haiiy’s first

if they had been sealed up inside the walls

Haiiy engages in all manner of intrigue.

student, Francois Le Sueur. The

of the Quinze-Vingts.”^^

...[A]t least firmly reproach citizen

punishing workshops were closed in

Haiiy for his inconsiderate demeanor,

181I; they never turned a profit despite

IHlAtlY IS (OUSTIEO

and let him know that the eye of the

Chaptal’s attempt to find a market for

Relieved of all administrative responsibilities

Administration is watching him in a

their products.

once the move occurred, Haiiy chafed

very particular manner.”

under the new, top-down regulations

In April

Chaptal

was open-minded about how to educate

A new director of the Institution

Either Bouret did not warn Haiiy

was appointed October

18, l8l5- He was

issued by bureaucrats more concerned

or, more likely, Haiiy paid no heed.

with process than with outcomes. Used to

On August

running his own show, and dismayed to

desperate note to Chaptal: “Citizen,

February

see his dream of producing well-educated,

kindly tell me what repressive measures

at last be released from their captivity in

self-supporting blind people shattered,

you think ought to be taken to bring to

the Quinze-Vingts.

Haiiy engaged in passive resistance.

a halt the scandalous abuse that is the ♦»68 subject of this letter.”

Government regulations forbade the students to leave the enclosure of the

lO, l8oi,

Sebastien Guillie, a medical doctor, who

Bouret sent a

supervised the move to a new location in

1816. The blind children would

Haiiy was forced to retire in February

Quinze-Vingts? Very well, Haiiy had

1802, at the age of 5b, with an annual

passes printed and signed by himself,

pension of 2,000 francs — somewhat

authorizing the porter to let the students

less than one-half his salary.^^ Far from

pass through the gates. The authorities

harming the children, Haiiy’s departure

wanted him to give religious instruction?

may have helped. Haiiy was understandably

Haiiy used the allotted time to teach

concerned that governmental policies

students about Rousseau and the religion

were not good for his students, but his

of Theophilanthropy. Perhaps his most

impolitic behavior did not help him or

1^0 fJM

HRAll. l.K: A TOi ( ::

o

Cl

V

r

41

Dating back to the l^th centu^. King Louis iX built a shelter for blind people, called the Quinzfi-Vingts. The principal work of the residents was beggingfor money, which was returned to the fratemi^ as a means of support. The Quinze-Vingts tried to avoid confrontations like this one ly assigning begging spots. The elaborately decorated hurdy-gurdy sported ^ the be^ar at the right suggests that he did very well from begging.

>

Quinze-Vingts

Touched by the hardships he witnessed among poor blind

near the end of 1779* Louis-Rene-Edouard de Rohan, Cardinal

people in 13th-century Paris, King Louis IX (“Saint Louis”) built

Bishop of Strasbourg, who as Grand Almoner was responsible for

a fraternal residence for 30O blind men and women called the

the Quinze-Vingts, successfully implemented his plan to sell the

Quinze-Vingts (the name follows the practice of counting in

property and demolish the buildings.The sale raised six million

twenties; 15 x 20 = 300)-^* Few obligations were imposed upon

livres — one million of which was set aside to provide pensions

the brothers and sisters, as they were called, although they had

for blind people and five million of which was rolled into the

to swear to live, and die, in the Catholic faith, and pray regularly

public treasury. In return for its cut, the government was obliged

for the king, queen, royal family, and all benefactors.

to make annual payments to the Quinze-Vingts of 250,000 livres,

Begging was encouraged as the primary means of supporting

to this day regarded as a “public debt — none more sacred.

the residence. All alms had to be turned over to the treasury, but

Begging was now forbidden “on pain of imprisonment

food received by a beggar was divided equally between the institu¬

instead, a fixed pension was given to blind residents (as well as

tion and the beggar. “For the Quinze-Vingts, God’s bread!” was

to some non-resident pensioners).Residents were moved to

a familiar cry throughout Paris. Profitable spots were assigned

a former barracks on rue de Charenton. It was here in 1801 that

in a highly organized manner, and the best ones could be rented.

Valentin Haiiy’s students were forced to relocate and live in

Quinze-Vingts beggars wore special insignia, giving them the

virtual imprisonment for another

status of “aristocrats of beggars.Other residents ran taverns

renovations were made; the holes and crevices in the walls of the

and small stores within the Quinze-Vingts precincts, or worked in

boys’ dormitory were big enough for “trouble makers” to hide

the outside community as bell ringers or town criers — among the

in.^^ The dormitories were so cold, cramped, and humid that

few jobs reserved for blind people. Over time, the management

every morning dew-like moisture coated the blankets.'

of the hospice became “quite democratic,” and residents could

Discipline among the blind adults who were already living there

save their own money, marry, and raise children.

was lax; drunken brawls were not uncommon. Residents kept

After several generations, the Quinze-Vingts became wealthy from donations, bequests, legacies, rents, income from begging, and tax exemptions. By 1779 the charity “formed, in the center of

15

years. None of the promised

rabbits, chickens, and pigeons in their small apartments, and dogs wandered about freely. What began as a democratic, communal fraternity had. by the

Paris, a monument remarkable for the multiplicity and beauty of

19th century, been transformed into a secular, public institution

its buildings.The site included a beautiful garden in which the

supported by the government. In 1880, the Quin/e V'ingts

blind residents could stroll in the warm weather, far from the

became a national medical center specializing in the prevention

confusion and ordure of the streets of Paris. Once a week,

and treatment of eye conditions. It remains a residence for 200

they were entertained by a military band.

blind people from all French territories.^^’

Such opulence eventually aroused the envy of both the religious and secular powers, and with scarcely any warning.

JJ H A 1

I. 1-Ki

A T t>

r

r M

O K

(J

>•-

1

I ,

i

1.

boys’ staircase

2.

girls’ staircase

a.

rue Saint-Victor entrance

b.

great courtyard

c.

walkways [for exercise]

d.

linen room

e.

baths

f.

small weaving shop

g.

print library

h.

employees’ refectory

i.

large weaving shop

k.

students’ refectory

l.

chapel

m. basket-making n.

mat-making (straw)

o.

mat-making (wool)

p.

mat-making (rush)

q.

packing/boxes

r.

knitting

s.

reading room for the sighted

t.

harmony classroom

u.

math classroom

V.

director’s classroom (history t*nd modern languages)

X.

second instructor’s classroom (ancient languages and geography)

y.

repetition of reading in relief

aa. large corridor (adjacent building) bb. library of books in relief cc. printing presses dd. piano classroom ee. organ classroom ff. second math classroom gg. second piano classroom

44

"The education of the blind necessitates the education of the sighted. E. E. Allen

• • • • • • •• • • • • • • •

• •

•

• •• • • •

SCMOOIL ILIFE

The director who welcomed Louis Braille in February 1819 was Sebastien Guillie, a 38-year-old former military doctor and a discreet royalist with impeccable manners.

Appointed

Instituteur

in

chief on April

21,

1814.

Guillie’s

first

challenge would be the transfer of the blind children from the Quinze-Vingts as soon as a suitable building could be found. (By suitable, Guillie meant a building in which the sexes could be segregated.)

Facing page: The move was delayed when Napoleon temporarily regained power for lOO days in the spring of 1815,

and the

nation was again

mobilized

for war.

After

Inside this labyrinthine building, Louis Braille received a good education, developed his musical talents, became a much-loved teacher, and devised a

Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, the Bourbon monarchy was restored to the throne and Guillie could move ahead with his plans. The school relocated to 68 rue

reading and writing system for the world’s blind people.

Saint-Victor^ on February 20, 1816. There, Guillie set out to reverse the setbacks suffered by the blind children during their incarceration at the Quinze-Vingts, where their education was neglected and they were often exposed to the uncouth blind adults living there. “Everything had to be re-done after the move...,” he complained,

“but

the

most

urgent

priority

was

to

restore

morale

to

the

Institution,”^

l.,OriH

RRAIl. I. Kl A TO

rCH

OK

(i K N I I

4S

A miOST (OF ((DHBSTACFFS

MAMSM

Funds for the new Institution Royale des

Before moving to the new location,

Jeunes Aveugles were provided by the

Guillie had to weed out any students who,

Interior Ministry, with a budget of

because of bad behavior or poor health,

50,000 francs."^ From this modest sum,

could not be allowed into the new

Guillie had to pay salaries, feed students

building.Upon those who were

and some employees, remodel the

accepted, Guillie imposed the strictest

building, install workshops, buy

discipline, shocking to modern sensibili¬

equipment and musical instruments,

ties but common at that time. In his 1818

obtain a new set of type for embossed

report to the Interior Minister, Guillie

printing, improve ventilation to reduce

made this dubious assertion to justify his

odors from the cesspit, and overcome

harsh policies: “It has been clearly shown

what he called “a host of obstacles.”^

that the blind are not like other people,

Constrained by limited funds, Guillie

[who are] susceptible to being restrained

and teasing (taquin) temperament did not

made every effort to keep costs down.

by external demonstrations. [The blind]

always please his teachers.

To conserve cooking fuel, he experi¬

appreciate things only by extremes, and

mented with a pressure cooker that

can understand justice only by its effects.

MUTTUAIL HTSTTMTUCTTIOIT

prepared nutritious food more quickly.

A paternal and just management has thus

The school now housed some 90 students

He grumbled that the budget would not

replaced the flexible and weak regime that

(60 boys and 30 girls), who were required

allow him to buy more wine, which was

has for so long prevented good from

to attend both academic classes and

added to the water the students drank in

being done.””

workshops.A typical day was 15 hours

the belief that it would give them

ITDISCCIIIPILIIME

A frequent punishment in French

ALLANT A l’eCOLE

“Going to School”

long, divided among intellectual work,

strength.' He initiated the construction

schools at that time was to lock unruly

music, manual work, meals, recreation,

of the Institution’s own chapel, which he

children in a dark closet, but this held

and religious devotions. Students were

considered essential to the spiritual well¬

little terror for children who couldn’t

supervised closely and forbidden to move

being of his charges, and hired a chaplain.

see. Misbehaved children were put on dry

anywhere in the building without display¬

Although Guillie boasted of many

bread and water, physically punished, and

ing their assigned numbers on a medallion

successes, his reports to the Interior

confined to the building.'^ Boys were

worn on a ribbon around their necks.

Minister should be taken with a grain of

whipped and, in extreme cases, chained

Louis was number JO.

salt because, while intelligent and capable,

to an iron ring fixed to a post. The girls

Guillie was “something of a charlatan.”

were treated no better. One girl was sick

a heavy emphasis on rote learning and

His basic approach to running the

for five months after being whipped.'^

memorization. To Haiiy’s collection of

Institution was to do whatever made

It is unlikely that Louis Braille escaped

raised-letter books, Guillie added more

him look good.^

punishment — his happy-go-lucky (gai)

than 1,720 volumes to the library, using a

Instruction was primarily oral, with

modified typeface scarcely more readable than Haiiy’s original font. Most of the books were religious in nature and few were practical — Greek and Latin, algebra, Spanish, Italian, and English grammar — for blind people seeking skills that might lead to employment.Years later, when Guillie’s deputy, Pierre-Armand Dufau, had become director, he sarcasti¬ cally remarked that the school turned out beggars who knew Latin and geometry. There were three teachers, all sighted, for ninety students: two men, Guillie and Dufau, and one woman, Zelie Gardeilhac. These three instructors taught six other “teachers” drawn from among the most capable blind students, who in turn taught the most advanced of the others. These became assistants {repetiteurs) — in effect apprentice teachers. There was one additional level: some of the youngest students were selected to teach for only eight days, after which they were replaced. Virtually everyone was both teacher and student.

18

1\1I HI H !I (G IF IL ((]) IT !R II H IHI IE « Guillie was a fine musician and reintro¬ duced the teaching of music to all students.'^ Despite his limited budget, the director purchased many musical instruments — violins, cellos, one double bass, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, flutes, guitars, and a second organ for students

A blind person who was an able musician — usually on a fiddle or hurdy-gurdy — could get by. A pleasing appearance, good musicianship, jocular personality, and a cute dog made it easier to charm mon^ from ^standers.

BHAJLLJ-;:

A

T O f C 11

OK

r.

I

47

to practice on. The director donated three pianos, bringing the total to eight. In the chapel, there was also a two-manual, two wind chest organ with l6 stops and an octave of pedals, which students played during services.Guillie hoped that children from the larger towns might find jobs as organists when they returned home. Children from smaller towns were taught to play a versatile woodwind instrument called a serpent, which was a useful accompaniment to plainsong. Professional musicians from around Paris flocked to the school, volunteering to give blind children a musical education. Niccolo Paganini, the Italian virtuoso violinist and composer, declared that he had never had an adequate notion of harmony until he heard the blind students perform.Louis Braille benefited enormously from the music programs, not only because he loved music, but also because he could supplement his income as an organist, playing in one of the more prestigious churches, Saint-Nicolas-

■\V

des-Champs, from 1834 to 1839.

iLihlAlRNHNiCi A TMAIIDIE Practical classes in knitting, making

CHAISIER

slippers, chair caning, basket making, and the like, were offered so that students might earn a living and become inde¬ pendent once they completed their eightyear stint at the Institute. Such instruction

4,s

Chair caning was performed ^ touch alone. Those made at the Institution were "coarse chairs" used in churches and public walks.

was a feature of schools for the blind

items made by the students amounted to

around the world. Those who lived near

only a few hundred francs (roughly 1%

the sea were taught to make fishing nets,

of revenues).

Patients in public hospitals were

and those from port towns learned how

frequently used for medical experi¬

to make ropes. Several students knitted

(O-TLIIILILIIE

waistcoats, shirts, and petticoats for

MUS ©TFIDEMTS

hosiers in Paris, “which give the greatest

In 1817, G uillie wrote and published a

satisfaction,” Guillie claimed.One

book on educating the blind that was so

product all students were required to

popular it was re-issued in 1819 and again

make was straw and rush mats because

in 1820, and was translated into English

“they are sure articles of sale in almost

and German.As always, Guillie liked

every part of France.Plush shoes

to make a good impression, and the

sold well, especially in winter.

beautiful engravings of his students are

As far back as 1786, blind youngsters

©MOWS OFF

idealized. To be fair, the purpose of these

had learned the art of printing— for both

kinds of publications was to elicit public

raised-letter and inkprint books. Indeed,

support. The engravings depict the

the trade of printer was one in which a

students as smartly dressed, well

blind boy could do well.

groomed, and healthy. In truth, many

However,

for reasons related to Napoleon’s strict

children were in poor health, and

censorship of the press^^ and determina¬

some bore the scars of smallpox. While

tion to control all printing, the director-

blindness was depicted in these drawings

general of printing and bookselling

by the convention of closed eyes, it is

ordered the Institution’s printing shop

more likely the students’ eyes would have

destroyed — a policy implemented “without

been open and damaged or deformed, as

pity” in l8l2.^^ “In consequence of this

was the case with Louis Braille. (It was

act of cruelty,” Guillie recorded, “these

customary during public demonstrations

unfortunate beings lost the means of

to cover the students’ eyes with ribbons,

learning a business, which put them in

to spare the sensibilities of ladies in

the way of gaining a livelihood better than

the audience.)

any other,”^^ and the Institution lost a

A Gruesome Experiment

ments, and even 19th-century blind children suffered at the hands of their supposed protectors. Sebastian Guillie* performed a cruel experiment on his blind charges to advance his reputation as a doctor. He obtained permission from the Hospital for Sick Ghildren to extract pus from the eyes of children suffering from a purulent eye disease, blepharo-blenorrhea, and placed it in the eyes of four indigent blind children under his care at the Institution. He hoped to prove that this condition was contagious rather than epidemic. His pitiless logic was that it would be inhumane to do this to sighted children, who could become blind, but little harm would come to those already without sight. It took 40 days for the disease to run its course, during which time the children suffered burning sensations in their eyes, violent pain in the eyelids, and such pressure that the eye felt as if it would explode. In the mornings, the children's eyelids were

source of considerable revenue.Indeed,

sealed so tightly that the eyelashes were

except for printing, the workshops never

painfully pulled out in forcing the eyes

reaped the rewards Guillie had hoped.

open. 29

His reports show that annual sales of

Using strips of colored cloth, this woman weaves a

All the students were taught to make carpets out of

Fur-lined slippers sold well, especially in winter.

Jloor covering. Both sexes were taught this trade. As

straw or rushes because th^ were inexpensive and

Louis Braille became foreman of the slipper workshop

the carpet is woven, it is wound around the wooden

could be sold wherever in France the student lived.

at age 14- Slippers were made inside-out on a

cylinder visible beneath her right hand. This skill was

stringed frame, so the fur lining could be easily

introduced to the school "of late," i.e., about l8l6.

attached.

The students made a "vast number" of all

that

were bought by many benevolent people, hoping that others would follow their example.

Engravings from Scbaslicn Guillic's Essay on the Instruction and Amusements of the Blind (l8l^).

SO

JV 3

Printing was a trade at which blind boys could be very

With minor adaptations, weaving could be done by

Blind teachers were better than those with sight at

successful. It took the strength of twojoung men to

blind people. Different colors of thread were indicated

teaching blind children to knit. Children who at home

produce enough pressure to emboss print into

ly notches cut in the end of the shuttle. Av the

could not produce a single stitch, could knit garters

dampened paper.

Industrial Revolution gained speed, textile production

afer only a few days of instruction.

was mechanized and moved from the domestic hearth into newfangled steam-powered factories, limiting job opportunities for blind people.

1. O tT I H

B H A I LLKI

A

T O tl f H

t> K

K H H' K

51

Despite years of training and impressive public demonstrations of blind people

of the blind, Abbe Haiiy [Howe confuses

nimbly performing various trades, the

Valentin with his brother, Rene-Just],

reality of employment for blind graduates was sobering. Writing anonymously for North American Review in 1833. Samuel Gridley Howe, head of the newly founded

invented and put into practice many contrivances for the education of the blind; and otherwise rendered the insti¬ tution excellent for the age, and the time it had existed; but as he left it so it has

New-England Institution for

remained. The great fault in the Parisian

the Education of the Blind

institution is the diversity of employment

in Boston (now Perkins

to which the pupils are put; and the effort

School for the Blind) and

made to enable them to perform surprising

a practical Yankee, specu¬

but useless tricks. The same degree of

lated, “How many of those

intellectual education is given to all,

who leave the institution

without reference to their destination

at the expiration of their

in life; and a poor boy, who is to get his

time are enabled to gain their own livelihood?” “Not one in twenty” was his startling conclusion.^' In his Address to the Trustees written that same year, Howe gave his candid impressions of the Paris school at the time Louis Braille was there:

The dashing Samuel Grid/ey Howe, the first director

“Its founder and the great benefactor

“The Institution for the Education

livelihood by weaving or whip makeup, is as well instructed in mathematics, and polite literature, as he who is to pursue a literary career. Now there is no reason why a shoe maker or a basket maker should not be well-educated; provided he can learn his profession thoroughly, and find the necessary leisure to study.”^'^

IRIEAUDIHG A IT ID IE FO ME

of what is now the Perkins School for the Blind in

for the Blind in Paris, as it is the oldest,

WM ITU IT TV

Boston, Mass., visited the Paris Institute in the

and as there is about it more of show and

THE

1830s, when Louis was a student there.

parade than any other in Europe, has also

Reading and writing for blind children in

the reputation of being the best; but if

the early-igth century remained com¬

one judges the tree by its fruit, and not by

pletely unsatisfactory, despite Haiiy’s

its flowers and foliage, this will not be his

innovations. True, Guillie had built up

conclusion.

the school’s library of embossed books,

IB

BMAIEEE

COOE

but at 4-5 kilos (about 9 pounds) each,

they were too heavy to hold, rest on a lap, or carry about. Countless ingenious attempts, in France and elsewhere, to improve upon Haiiy’s embossed print were tried and quickly rejected as imprac¬ tical.^^ One fundamental defect could

Below: A blind boy learns to feel,

never be remedied: embossed print is

and then remember, the movements

simply too hard to read by touch. Only a

of a s^lus as it traces the shapes of

few students successfully mastered the

letters engraved in a metal

art, one of whom was Louis Braille.

plate. It is possible that the teacher

Writing techniques of the time were

depicted here is Guillie himself

equally ill-suited to the physiology of touch. To learn to write, a blind child at

Above: Engraved letters and ^mbols were used in the Iate-l8th and early-igth centuries to familiarize

the school would hold a stylus — a metal joung blind people with the shapes of print letters of rod with a rounded tip — and trace the the alphabet. Note that there is no “w” in the lower shapes of letters engraved into a metal case letters. This letter is used infrequently in French, sheet. Once the student had learned to and Louis Braille was not familiar with it. recognize and remember the sensations produced in the muscles, he or she was ready to try to replicate the letter shapes on a separate piece of paper with a pencil. Writing with ink was not feasible at all; the finger that detected the motion of the tip of the pen ended up smearing the ink. Furthermore, the writer could not be certain the ink was flowing. To write longhand, a blind person needed a way to move precisely from one line to tbe next, to avoid writing over previously written work. One way to

Left: This particular handguide had

accomplish this was with a handguide,

wires or catgut stretched across the

a simple wooden frame with parallel,

page to prevent the writer’s pencil

horizontal lines of wire or catgut

from straying into lines previously

stretched across it. Writing in this

used or not jet used.

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