A Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Literature for the Blind
by James Gall (9780217670876)

A Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Literature for the Blind (Book)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: not more than four-tenths of an inch square, and a large majority of the small letters did not occupy above one-half of even that. To render twenty-six arbitrary forms, within such a small compass, simple, and equally tangible throughout, would have been, as the writer has experienced, a very difficult operation; and the addition of but one or two to the number would have added to the difficulty in almost geometrical progression. But by retaining the capitals, the number to be equalized was augmented at once from twenty-six to fifty-two, ?which is itself enough at once to account for its original failure, and for the want of success in every after attempt which might be made for its improvement. A remedy for these defects appeared to the writer to consist in a total abandonment of the capitals, by which all the other letters might be increased in size, and rendered more simple in their form; and more especially, he saw. that by adopting a triangular alphabet in place of a curved one, the tangible power of each letter would be indefinitely increased. The tangible power conferred upon the letter O, when changed into the square or diamond form, and enlarged to the full size of the type upon which it was cast, was so exceedingly obvious, that the hope of founding, upon this simple principle, an effective and permanent literature for the Blind was confidently, but perhaps too hastily entertained. Several concurring circumstances also prompted to the attempt; and the first experiments were so exceedingly satisfactory, and indeed so decisive of success, independently of any future improvement, that it was resolved at once to proceed. The prospect was exceedingly delusive. The writer knew not, and indeed could not know at that time, the distance of the object which it was thought had b...

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