Louis Braille collection

Creator:

Perkins School for the Blind

Date Range:

1925-2009

Call number:

AG120

Abstract:

Collection is comprised of 21 items sent to Perkins School for the Blind beginning in 1925, and ending in 2009. All pertain to documenting the historical importance of Louis Braille.

Extent:

1 document case, .25 linear foot.

Language:

English, French

Processed by: 

Jane Pipik, 2019

Biographical/Historical notes:

Blind from age 3, Louis Braille was 15 when he invented the script braille system at the Institute for Blind Children in Paris, France.  He later included musical notes and a 64th permutation with no dots, otherwise known as a ‘space’. His book “Method of Writing Words, Music and Plain Song by Means of Dots, for Use by the Blind and Arranged by Them” was published in 1926. He later became a teacher at the school, specializing in science and music.  He died of tuberculosis in 1852 at age 43.

Sources of information:

Winter, Bill. “Braille’s most famous book.” Perkins School for the Blind, August 2016.

“Literacy and Braille Resources”, by Perkins Scout.  Perkins School for the Blind.

Poindexter, Marilyn. “Louis Braille 4 Kids”, Perkins School for the Blind

“Louis Braille, French Educator”, Encyclopaedia-Britannica

Restrictions:

None

Copyright:

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Perkins School for the Blind, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Credit line/Citation:

AG120 Louis Braille Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Scope/Contents:

This collection is primarily comprised of postcards, photos, one stamp, one silver dollar, and one braille card concerning tributes to Louis Braille’s life and work. Included are photos of Braille busts, printed postcards of Braille birthplace and home scenes, photographs of early Louis Braille printing in French script LINE TYPE circa 1949, a 1952 printed song to Louis Braille written in Braille from Algeria, a 1964 French postage stamp of Braille, a 1980 postcard of Argentina Monument to Louis Braille, and a 2009 Bicentennial U.S. silver dollar.

Arrangement:

Key to Abbreviations:

B1:F1 = Box 1: Folder 1

1 Series, 1 box arranged chronologically
Series 1: 1925-2009

Related collections:

Perkins Embossed Book Collection, 1786-2015 (unprocessed). Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Container List:

Box: 1:

• B1:F1: Two photos of two Louis Braille Busts, circa 1925
• B1:F2: Louis Braille French postage stamp, 1948
• B1:F3: Seven photographs of Line Printing by Louis Braille in French script, 1949
• B1:F4: Tribute to Louis Braille in braille with typed English translation attached to original cardboard stamped “envelope”, 1952
• B1:F5: Seven Postcard photographs of the birthplace and other home scenes of Louis Braille, 1954.
• B1:F6: Two postcard photos of Braille Bust from image Argentina, 1980
• B1:F7: One 2009 Uncirculated Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, 2009

Provenance:

B1:F5 Seven Postcard Photographs of the birthplace and other home scenes of Louis Braille brought from Paris by E. J. Waterhouse, 1954.

Subject Headings:

• Perkins School for the Blind.
• Perkins School for the Blind–History.
• Braille, Louis, 1809-1852
• Blind–Printing and writing systems