                           CHAPTER 2
                                
                   LOUIS BRAILLE (1809-1852)
                                 
  1. COUPVRAY
  
  2. L'INSTITUTION ROYALES DES JEUNES AVEUGLES
  
  3. CHARLES BARBIER
  
  4. BARBIER AND BRAILLE CODES COMPARED
  
  5. 1928 PROCEDE
  
  6. WRITING
  
  7. 1829-1837
  
  8. 1937 PROCEDE
  
  9. NOUVEAU PROCEDE
  
  10.     THE PLANCHE A PISTONS, LATER KNOWN AS THE
  RAPHIGRAPHE
  
  11.     EPILOGUE
     Printing
     The Diffusion of the Braille Code
  
  12.     CONCLUSION
    1.   COUPVRAY
  
  Louis Braille was born in 1809 at Coupvray, a small village lying
  approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Paris.  His father
  was a master craftsman, the village saddler and harness maker,
  and both he and his wife could read and write.  There were four
  children, Louis being the youngest by nearly 13 years.  He was
  involved in an accident when he was only three years old.  It is
  possible that the account given by Hypolyte Coltat (1853, p.14),
  Braille's pupil and later close friend, may be the most accurate
  available: "One day, when he was three years old, the child was
  sitting beside his father and wanted to work too and copy the
  movements he saw his father making.  In one little hand he caught
  up a piece (strip) of leather and in the other the knife and started
  to work.  Weakness frequently encounters difficulties and this is
  what happened.  The sharp tool slipped sideways and struck the
  poor little workman in the eye."
  
  Louis became blind in one eye and by the time he was five, he
  was totally blind.  He attended the village school where he
  showed such ability that arrangements were made for him to
  attend l'Institut des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris from 15th February,
  1819, when he was 10 years old (Pignier, 1859, pp.8-9).
  
  2. L'INSTITUTION ROYALE DES JEUNES
  AVEUGLES
  
  The building was different from the one Hay left in 1802.  The
  present buildings were cramped and unsuitable in design; the
  report of the consultant physician, dated 8th March, 1821, stated
  that "The house is situated in a low-lying district which is airless,
  evil-smelling and conducive to the spread of disease" (Henri,
  1952, p.15).  On the 1st March, 1832, the "Moniteur" gave an
  account of part of the session of the Chamber of Deputies in
  which the commission on the state of the school was being
  discussed "The house occupied by l'Institution Royale des Jeunes
  Aveugles is very unhealthy.  Mortality among the pupils is
  extremely high ..." (ibid., p.17).  Delays in providing better
  accommodation continued, until Lamartine, poet, historian and
  statesman, made an impromptu speech at the bar of the house in
  1832 (ibid., pp.17-18) which finally persuaded the authorities to
  provide a specially planned new accommodation.  The new
  buildings were opened in 1843.  Health at the school has been
  mentioned because it is without doubt that these living conditions
  were directly responsible for the tuberculosis from which Braille
  suffered for many years and which led to his early death when he
  was 43.
  
  Pignier, the third director of the school, described (1859, pp.9-10)
  Braille's more than average ability and added, "His compositions,
  whether literary or scientific, contained only the exact notions; he
  was noted for the precision of his thought and the clarity and
  correctness of his style.  One was aware of imagination; but it was
  always subject to his judgement".  He won prizes for a wide variety
  of subjects.  [An arithmetic prize bearing the signature of Pignier
  may be seen at the Braille Museum in Coupvray.]  He was made
  foreman of the workshop where slippers were made when he was
  not quite 15 and was officially appointed tutor four years later
  (Henri, 1952, 29-30).
  
  3. CHARLES BARBIER
  
  In 1823 when Braille was 14, a retired army officer, named
  Charles Barbier, visited the school to demonstrate a new method
  of embossed reading (Henri, 1947, pp.9-10).  He believed that
  illiteracy was caused by difficulties inherent in the use of the
  alphabet and so he determined to simplify and thus speed up the
  process.  Amongst other experiments he wanted to find a means
  of sending short messages secretly and quickly on the field of
  battle without a torch or lantern betraying positions to the enemy
  (ibid., p.6).
  
  He was interested in codes and secret writing, so it is likely that
  he knew of a book published in 1803 by Coste d'Arnobat (Henri,
  1952, p.40).  It included a description of a code invented by
  Father Lana in 1617, which seems to be the first known means of
  punctiform writing.  The system was never put into practice, but is
  of interest because knowledge of it may have stimulated Barbier's
  work.
  
  Lana used a system of dots on a 3 x 3 grid, each dot or dots
  representing a letter of the alphabet:
  
  
  
  A O
  G P
  B T V
  
  
  
  F L
  M N
  E S P
  
  
  
  C J
  H R
  D I Z
  
  
  K, Q, U, W, X, and Y do not appear but both the French and
  English editions of Henri (1952, trans. 1987) show P appearing
  twice, probably due to a printing error.  No explanation seems
  available to explain what criteria determined the position of the
  letters and if frequency was involved.  To represent a letter it was
  necessary to draw the relevant part of the grid and include one,
  two, or three dots according to what was the first, second, or third
  letter of the group of letters written within it.  "Lana" would
  therefore be represented by:
  
  
  
  
      
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
      
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  L
  
  A
  
  N
  
  A
  
  
  In 1809 (Henri, 1952, p.37) Barbier produced a pamphlet which
  included a description "d'criture coupe pour supplier la plume
  ou le crayon et excuter plusiers copies  l fois sans tracer de
  charactres" (cut-out writing for which a penknife is used as a
  substitute for pen or pencil, so that several examples can be
  produced at once without copying).  Though the intention was to
  duplicate copies, and at this stage Barbier was not considering
  work for the blind, it shows a step in the development of tangible
  writing.  Short commands on the field of battle would require no
  punctuation.  Barbier, therefore, worked out a punctiform system
  intending it for use in the army, but instead the Acadmie des
  Sciences recommended the system for use by the blind.  In 1823
  de Lacpde and Ampre, representatives of the Acadmie,
  carried out an experimental test which demonstrated the potential
  of the Barbier code for use by the blind (ibid., p.44).
  
  There were two stages to Barbier's system.  His key to the code
  consisted of a grid made up of 36 rectangles, each containing one
  of the phonetic sounds into which he divided the French
  language.  The rows of rectangles were numbered 1-6 down on
  the left and the columns of rectangles were numbered 1-6 across
  the top.
  Key to Barbier Code
  
  
  
  
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  
  
  
  1
  a
  i
  o
  u
  
  
  
  
  
  2
  an
  in
  on
  un
  eu
  ou
  
  
  
  3
  b
  d
  g
  j
  v
  z
  
  
  
  4
  p
  t
  q
  ch
  f
  s
  
  
  
  5
  l
  m
  n
  r
  gn
  ll
  
  
  
  6
  oi
  oin
  ian
  ien
  ion
  ieu
  
  
  Thus, each sound could be referred to by two numbers, first the
  row in which it appeared, followed by the number of the column. 
  o would therefore be represented by 1-3, ch by 4-4, ion by 6-5,
  etc.
  
  The sounds could also be represented by dots arranged on a
  matrix of 6 x 2.  The first row of vertical dots would show the line
  position and the second the column position.  For example:
  
  
  
  l l
  l
  l
  l l  
  l l  
  l l  
  l l  
  
   l l
   l l
   l l
   l l
   l l
   l
  
  
  
  o  
  ch
  
  ion
  
  
  This system requiring two stages, first of remembering the
  meanings and positions on the grid and then the necessity of
  using so many dots for the symbols must have slowed up the
  processes of reading and writing, but it was welcomed because
  tangibility is of prime importance.  The earliest writing board
  consisted of a narrow strip of wood with six horizontal grooves on
  which was fixed a metal clip to hold the paper in place and
  regulate the width of the line of writing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
               Diagram of Barbier writing board.
                                 
  Later a simple guide was provided which was easier to use and
  gave more accurate results.  The hinged guide had a grooved
  lower surface and the upper surface had slits, tall enough and
  wide enough for the possible 6 x 2 impressions in each.  A pointed
  style was provided for making the dots.  A larger frame was also
  available, again hinged so that it would open like a book for the
  paper to be inserted and which was capable of taking eight lines
  of code [Muse Historique, Muse Valentin Hay and Coupvray
  museum].
  
  The more intelligent pupils, who may also have had a more
  developed sense of touch, must have been delighted by the
  results.  Not only could they read the embossed patterns more
  easily than those in the Guilli books, but for the first time there
  was a possible means of writing.  This simple equipment was
  provided for those who wanted to practise and permission was
  also given for the frames to be taken home for use during the
  holidays.
  
  With further practice some of the pupils became more critical, and
  Braille, who was particularly interested, asked if he could meet M.
  Barbier in order to make "some suggestions".  According to
  Pignier (1859, p.14), Braille "pointed out to M. Barbier several
  improvements in this kind of writing and also solved some of the
  difficulties to which M. Barbier had for a long time been seeking
  solutions".
  
  It is not clear when this conversation took place, but Barbier
  tended to be irascible and did not appreciate the criticism of his
  code.  The report of l'Acadmie des Sciences 1823 stated
  "Ordinary writing is the art of speaking to the eyes, that
  discovered by M. Barbier is the art of speaking to the fingers"
  (Henri, 1952, p.44), so with such a testimony, together with his
  own assurance, it is no wonder that he did not appreciate young
  Braille's "suggestions".  Even so, in the "Avertissement" which
  appears at the beginning of the first edition of Braille's code
  (1829, p.1) he wrote "If we have shown the advantages of our
  procd over those of this inventor, we should like to say in his
  honour that it is his procd that first gave us the idea of our own".
  
  In 1827 "Recueil d'anecdotes, extrait de la monde en action" was
  printed in Barbier code and Henri (1947, pt.3, pp.10-11)
  demonstrated some of the problems that Braille had recognised
  before this publication.  The essentials of Braille's code were
  ready by 1825 when he was 16 but not published until 1829.
  
  4. BARBIER AND BRAILLE CODES COMPARED
  
  In the "Recueil d'anecdotes", [Muse Valentin Hay] "anecdote"
  appears as "anegdote" and "Monsieur" as "Mossieu".  In the
  pronunciation of the French language the sounds of a silent letter
  at the end of one word is carried over to the beginning of the next
  if it begins with a vowel. Therefore, as Barbier's method was
  phonetic, "fait-en" became "fai-ten" and "en action" became "en
  naction".  Punctuation was omitted and no spaces were left
  between words.  For short messages for the soldiers Barbier had
  thought these details unnecessary.  The fact that he had not
  included them by the time his night-writing (later to be known as
  sonography) was introduced to the blind pupils demonstrates,
  either that he had not found a means of showing punctuation, or
  had not realised its value for clarifying meaning.  He was a code
  maker and not an educationalist.  Construction of words and the
  use of punctuation are necessary for an understanding of the
  language and its lucid, flexible and imaginative use, and it is also
  essential for translation of foreign languages.  This was to be of
  great importance in the future when the braille code would be
  adapted for use in many other tongues.
  
  The second main difference lies in the size of the configurations. 
  Braille halved the possible number of vertical dots in a cell
  resulting in a matrix of 3 x 2.  The signs were thus immediately
  under the reading finger, no up and down movements were
  necessary and therefore reading could take place at a faster rate. 
  Barbier's 6 x 2 matrix gives the possibility of 4,096 (212)
  combinations which is grossly in excess of need, and in fact he
  only used 36.  Braille realised that     3 x 2 (26) gives 64 possible
  combinations, including a blank cell which was used for spaces
  between words.  This was quite sufficient for the first simple
  versions of his code.
  
  Barbier's dot positions depend on the position of the sounds in his
  key grid whereas Braille's use of full spelling made this extra
  stage unnecessary.  All the dots in Barbier's code are used until
  the line or column position is reached, that is, the cell always
  includes dots starting from the top of the cell but of varying length
  downwards.  Some of the cells must inevitably seem very similar. 
  For example, it would be difficult to realise tactually the difference
  between:
  
  
  
  l l
  l l
  l l
  l l
  l l
  l
  
  
  and
  l l
  l l
  l l
  l l
  l
  
  
  
  
  ll
  
  
  f
  
  
  Later research (Nolan and Kederis, 1969, 38, Table 1) has shown
  that the dots in the lowest part of the cell are the more difficult to
  detect, yet in Barbier's code the emphasis must be on the lowest
  ones for recognition to take place.  Braille, as an intelligent blind
  person, would have been more aware of the confusions that often
  arise in touch reading and he tried to avoid them where possible. 
  Barbier, being sighted, may not have been so aware of such
  problems.
  
    5.   1829 PROCEDE
  
  By 1829 Braille was ready to have his work published, so he
  dictated the prose to Pignier, with the interesting result that the
  text is embossed in Guilli script and Braille wrote the examples
  in embossed point (Pignier, 1859, p.16) [Muse Valentin Hay]. 
  The title, "System for writing words, music and plainchant for the
  use of the blind and arranged for them by M. Braille" gives a clear
  indication of its contents. Braille had cogitated for a long while and
  made many trials including a transcription of portions of "La
  Grammaire des Grammaires" in 1827 to test his system (Pignier,
  1860, p.82) [muse Valentin Hay].  All the testing was carried out
  with the co-operation of pupils at the school so he had no
  experience of the use of his code by adults, except perhaps by
  some of the blind tutors, or the effect of old age in the mastery of
  his code.
  
  People have often wondered how the first 10 letters of the
  alphabet were planned.  At first they seem arbitrary yet they are
  particularly important because most of the rest of the code is
  based on these shapes.  Gaudet, a master at the school, was a
  protagonist of the use of the code at a time when the authorities
  still frowned upon its use.  He used the occasion of the
  inauguration of the new school buildings in 1843 to give a speech
  entitled, "Account of the system of writing raised dots for use by
  the blind" (Roblin, 1952, trans. 1955, p.55).  As Gaudet knew
  Braille personally, his version is probably correct (Henri, 1952,
  pp.51-53).
  
  For this explanation only, the signs are numbered 1-15.  For the
  first 10 letters of the alphabet he took all the 15 signs possible in
  which variations in position of the top four dots occur and
  arranged them in a logical order.
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1
  2
  3
  
  4
  5
  6
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  7
  8
  9
  
  10
  11
  12
  
  13
  14
  15
  
  
  The first six signs are made up of the possible patterns using the
  left side of the cell, and then the corresponding ones on the right;
  he then combined the signs in the following order:
  
     1 and 4, 1 and 5, 1 and 6, giving signs 7, 8, and 9.
     2 and 4, 2 and 5, 2 and 6, giving signs 10, 11, and 12.
     3 and 4, 3 and 5, 3 and 6, giving signs 13, 14, and 15.
  
  Being blind and therefore knowing at first hand what was best for
  tactile reading, Braille eliminated all the single dots except the first
  one because location was a difficulty factor (numbers 3, 4, and 6). 
  He also eliminated 5 because it could be confused with 2 and 15
  was eliminated because of confusion with 7.  The remaining signs
  became the first 10 letters of the alphabet.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A
  
  B
  
  C
  
  D
  
  E
  
  F
  
  G
  
  H
  
  I
  J
  
  
  
  Braille did not number the dots within the cell but instead
  described their position in words; his second procd of 1837
  made a greater use of diagrams.  Levitte (1880), basing his
  account on the work of a colleague named Ballu, used the
  following method:
  
        1    l l    4
        2    l l    5
        3    l l    6
  
  The numbering was altered in later years and then changed back
  to the earlier version; to save confusion this earlier method will be
  used throughout this work.
  
  Much of the remainder of Braille's code was built up in further
  lines of 10 characters each having some addition to the base
  signs.  For example, line two has dot 3 added to each sign, line
  three has dots 3 and 6 added and line four has dot 6 added.
  
  
  1st
  Line
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A
  
  B
  C
  D
  E
  F
  G
  H
  I
  J
  
  
  2nd
  Line
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  K
  
  L
  M
  N
  O
  P
  Q
  R
  S
  T
  
  
  3rd
  Line
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  U
  
  V
  X
  Y
  Z
  c
  ,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4th
  Line
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  W
  
  
  W appears at the end of the fourth line after the French modified
  letters instead of after V as would be expected, and there is an
  interesting reason for this described by Guilbeau (1907, p.47).  At
  first, Braille was thinking in terms of classroom use such as for
  taking notes.  One of the English pupils suggested that the W
  should be included because of its use in foreign languages, his
  own included, and that it would be needed for translation
  purposes.  As it was not part of the French alphabet at the time it
  must have seemed logical to Braille to include it at the end of the
  accented letters.
  
  Leaving the fifth line aside for the moment, it will be seen that line
  6, for punctuation, uses all the signs of line 1 with the addition of
  dashes in the lowest parts of the cells.
  
  
  6th
  Line
  lm
  mm
   
  lm
  lm
   
  ll
  mm
   
  ll
  ml
   
  lm
  ml
   
  ll
  lm
   
  ll
  ll
   
  lm
  ll
   
  ml
  lm
   
  ml
  ll
   
  
  
  
  ,
  ;
  :
  .
  ?
  !
  ( )
  "
  *
  "
  
  
  Line 5 used for numbers shows no resemblance to line 1, but here
  too it is possible to see the logical way in which Braille chose the
  configurations.
  
  
  5th
  Line
   
  mm
  mm
   
   
  mm
   
  lm
  mm
   
  ll
  mm
   
  ml
  mm
  lm
   
  mm
  ll
   
  mm
  ml
   
  mm
  ml
  mm
  mm
  ml
  ml
  mm
  
  
  
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  0
  
  
  It was possible to write the dash used in signs for punctuation and
  numbers because the board had horizontal grooves, but Braille
  indicated in his "Procd (1829, p.12) that the dash had been
  found difficult to make with a style, so another method would be
  found for writing numbers.  He continued to experiment for he was
  a perfectionist.  The remaining lines of the code were used for
  mathematics and music and there are a few signs with no
  meaning attached.  He also included "a stenographic system in
  which 20 signs sufficient for writing all the words in the French
  language" ("Avertissement", p.1).
  
  6. WRITING
  
  For writing, the apparatus was not unlike the hand frames still
  used by a few people today but with some important differences.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Braille's own writing frame showing grooves all down the page.
       Guide du Muse Association Valentin Hay, Fig. 12.
                                
                                 The board was hinged at the top to a frame that held the paper,
  and down the upper surfaces of the sides of the frame there were
  a series of depressions.  For each line of writing the board held
  three parallel grooves.  The guide, made of a single piece of metal
  with two or three rows of cells, could be moved down the page as
  required by fitting the knobs on the under side into the
  depressions on the frame.  The central part of the guide had to be
  lower than the edge so that it was in contact with the paper.  A
  style was provided for making the dots, and each shape had to be
  made in reverse and the words written from right to left along the
  line so that they would appear in the correct reading order when
  the page was turned over.
  
    7.   1829-1837
  
  The authorities, and later some of the directors of institutions for
  the blind abroad, did not understand how suitable the code was
  for tactile reading and writing. In France the braille code was
  already being used in class for writing exercises and in 1832 two
  hand written braille volumes were printed entitled "Gographie de
  l'Asie" and "Gographie de la France" respectively [Muse
  Valentin Hay].  They are of particular interest because they show
  an interim stage in the development of the code.  Dashes were
  replaced in numbers by the use of the numeral sign.  It was placed
  in front of signs of the first line to indicate numbers 1-9 and 0. 
  The letters were very large and the spacing between the dots
  within cells was at least 3 mm.
  
  In 1834 Fornier made the first attempt to adapt the writing frame
  so that writing could occur on both sides of the paper.  By leaving
  the height of one cell between each line of writing on the first side
  of the page it was possible to write between the lines on the
  second side.
  
  Music is not included in the brief of this work, but it is interesting
  for musicians to know that it was also in 1834 that Braille decided
  to use the first four lines of the code to denote pitch and sound
  values.  Contrary, therefore, to many people's belief, the literary
  code was developed first and the signs of the literary code were
  the inspiration for the music code.  Braille, himself, was a fine
  musician.  Thirty-six pages dealing with the music code were
  added to the 1829 procd in 1834 and l'Institut des Jeunes
  Aveugles owns Braille's own copy.
  
  By the next year Braille was to suffer times of great tiredness and
  he had a violent haemorrhage, the first sign that he had
  tuberculosis of the lungs.  In 1843 the school moved to new
  spacious buildings which are still in use today, but it was too late
  for Braille for the damage had been exacerbated by conditions in
  the old damp and cramped buildings.
  
  Pignier (1859) paid tribute to Braille as a distinguished teacher. 
  His work was supplemented with short treatises on the subjects
  he taught.  One of these books entitled, "Petit memento
  d'Arithmtique  l'usage des commer, cants, contenant les
  nombres entiers et les fractions, dcimales, suivi de cent
  problmes" (muse Historique) is described by his friend, Coltat
  (1853, p.16) as "un chef-d'oeuvre de clart et de concision". 
  Maybe these short books were produced because there were so
  few text books available, but it is also possible that they were
  produced to save too much use of his voice during frequently
  occurring bouts of tiredness, or to help his pupils during his
  absences that were sometimes necessary for recuperation. Collat
  (1853, p.16) quoted Braille's view that: "Since our methods of
  writing and printing take up a lot of space on paper, we must
  compress the thought into the fewest possible words."
  
  8. 1837 PROCEDE
  
  The first edition of the procd had gone out of print, so Braille
  prefaced the second edition (p.2) by writing, "We are taking
  advantage of this fact to add some useful observations and
  ingenious applications which we owe to the kindness of several
  distinguished colleagues".
  
  Line five for numbers had the dash eradicated and instead the
  signs of line one became numbers when prefaced by the numeral
  sign  written close up before each sign.
  
  This sign was first used in the "Gographies" of 1832.  Fractions
  were also prefaced by the numeral sign followed immediately by
  the numerator in the upper position and the denominator placed
  next in the lower position.  Examples given by Braille were:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2/3
  
  
  
  7/10
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This method is still followed in many countries today.
  
  In the promised new version the signs in the sixth line for
  punctuation showed the cells of the first line in the lower position
  of the cells.
  
  In consideration of the slow rate of reading and writing and of the
  space the code required, the 1837 procd provided second
  meanings for the signs of the fourth line, for example:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  in
  ou
  ch
  
  
  Simple rules for the formation of shortform words are also
  included (ibid., p.21).  Among Braille's examples are:
     the omission of vowels immediately following a consonant;
  
  
  verity
  vrt
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
     if two vowels follow a consonant the first is omitted;
  
  
  piano
  pan
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Being a musician this would be a most useful shortform easily
  recognised in context, though there are two other meanings of
  "pan" in an unabbreviated form in the French language.
     initial vowels must not be omitted;
  
  
  utilit
  utlt
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  By now Braille was thinking of the dissemination of his code
  abroad, so he included parts of the Lord's Prayer in Latin, French,
  Italian, Spanish, German, and English and copies of the procd
  were "sent to all the institutions for the blind then in existence,
  Philadelphia, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brussels, Madrid, Budapest,
  Copenhagen, etc." (Pignier, 1860, p.107).  The work also includes
  a description of the writing apparatus which is similar to that used
  in 1829.  Braille added the practical comment that boards were
  now made of metal because wood did not last.
  
  In 1837 the first printed book in braille was produced.  It was in
  three volumes and entitled "Prcis sur d'histoire de France"
  [Musee Valentin Hauy].  The first huge volume of format 22 x 28
  sq. cms. weighs 1,750 grammes even though it has only 152
  pages.  The pages were stuck back to back as had been done for
  the Hay volumes.  Each page contains 25 lines with an
  approximate average of 34 letters to the line and the spacing
  between dots, instead of being 3 mms. was reduced to 2.4 mms.
  "... for reasons of economy only one design of type was cast
  embossed with all six dots of the cell.  It was the pupils and tutors
  who, with a chisel, chipped off all the superfluous dots" in order to
  produce the separate letters required for printing the book (Henri,
  1952, p.75).  It was a remarkable instance of patience that
  inspired the pioneers in support of Braille's work.  A wider
  appreciation came in 1854 when the Emperor of Brazil ordered a
  Portuguese primer and paid for a new and complete set of type for
  the purpose.  [A copy is exhibited at the Coupvray museum.]
  
  Even though the authorities did not officially approve of the use of
  the braille code, Pignier permitted its use in the school because
  it improved the rate of reading and writing.  In 1840 the deputy
  director, Dufau, became director and Pignier had to accept early
  and unwelcome retirement.  Unfortunately, at first Dufau did not
  wish the code to be used and the pupils had to work with Dufau's
  improved version of Roman alphabet letters.  Gaudet, his second
  master, persuaded him of the merits of the braille code, and when
  the new school building was inaugurated (1843), Gaudet took this
  public opportunity to give "un substantial expos" (ibid., p.76) in
  praise of Braille's code.  Though it was then used in the school,
  and in fact had never ceased to be used privately by the pupils, it
  was not until 1854, two years after Braille's death, that his code at
  long last became officially recognised for use in France.
  
  9. NOUVEAU PROCEDE
  
  Braille regarded the 1837 Procd as the definitive version of his
  literary code.  It is not often realised that having devised a means
  for the blind to read and to communicate with each other, he then
  sought a method by which blind people could write in such a way
  that there could be recognition by vision as well as touch.  He had
  learned to read by the Guilli version of Hay's embossed linear
  script when he had first come to the institution, so would already
  have been familiar with the alphabet code used by those with
  sight.  He now proposed to make approximations of the alphabetic
  shapes in dots, a simple task for someone with sight, but probably
  requiring many trials and much patience by a blind man.  A writing
  frame on which equidistant dots could be made was now
  necessary.
  
  In 1839 Braille published his "Nouveau Procd pour reprsenter
  par des points la forme mme des lettres, les cartes de
  gographie, les figures de gomtrie, les caractres de musique,
  etc., a l'usage des aveugles".  Always precise, Braille's titles are
  apt to be long, even though the inkprint edition contains only nine
  pages of explanation and four pages of numerical tables for
  forming the letters.
  
  The method is simple and probably did not take as long to learn
  as it may seem at first, but writing must have been tedious
  because of the necessary strings of numbers to be remembered
  in making each letter.  Lower case letters required a height of four
  dots for the main part of the sign and three dots were allowed
  above or below for the extended parts of the letters.  A height of
  seven upper dots were used for the capital letters.  Numbers and
  punctuation were carried out on the same principle.  The board
  required 10 horizontal grooves per line of writing and the guide
  was a fine grille making equidistant dots possible.  One space was
  left between words.
  
  The plan of how the letters should be made has been compared
  with charts for tapestry designs; this is a visual opinion.  Braille
  arranged for large scale models of dotted letters to be made so
  that his colleagues could become familiar with the punctiform
  shapes, but for writing by blind people he produced numbered
  rows of figures which were much easier for tactile use.  The
  following examples show first, two lower case letters and then an
  example of a capital letter.  (The signs have been enlarged.)
    
  
  1
  
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2
  
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  3
  
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  3
  
  
  
  
  l
  
  
  4
  
  l
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4
  
  
  l
  l
  l
  
  
  5
  
  l
  
  
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  5
  
  l
  
  
  l
  
  
  6
  
  l
  
  
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  6
  
  l
  
  
  l
  
  
  7
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  7
  
  
  l
  l
  l
  
  
  8
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  8
  
  
  
  
  l
  
  
  9
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  9
  
  
  
  
  l
  
  
  10
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  10
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  1 2 3 4 5 6 / 4 7 / 4 7 / 5 6
  
  5 6 / 4 7 10 / 4 7 10 / 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1
  
  l
  l
  l
  l
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  3
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4
  
  
  l
  l
  l
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  5
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  6
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  7
  
  l
  l
  l
  l
  l
  l
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1 7 / 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 / 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 / 1 4 7 / 1 4 7 / 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 / 2 3 5 6
  
  The patterns were written from right to left so that they were
  correct for reading when the page was turned over.  It seems
  unnecessarily complicated for serifs to be included, but as a blind
  man, Braille may not have realised the relative unimportance of
  these excrescences.  They had been included in the Hay and
  Guilli type.
  
  The system had its faults, not least because it was slow and
  complicated for some to carry out, but it is commendable that
  Braille wanted to make the attempt to communicate with the
  sighted world.  He must have been only too aware that the braille
  code required only two dots for the letter 'b' whereas this new
  method required 12, and some of the letters were even more
  complicated.  He had considered a system requiring seven dots
  high instead of 10 but rejected the idea because this writing was
  "smaller but less regular" (Henri, 1952, p.101).  The method has
  been shown in some detail because it led to an invention by
  Braille's friend, Foucault, who had been at the Paris school and
  was then living at the Quinze Vingts.
  
  10.     THE PLANCHE A PISTONS, LATER KNOWN AS
       THE RAPHIGRAPHE
       
  Foucault was extremely able in inventing machinery for special
  purposes and he and Braille co-operated in producing apparatus
  that speeded up the new way of writing.  The apparatus consisted
  of a board and frame to hold the paper, and mounted above on a
  movable carriage were 10 pistons, five for each hand.  When the
  hands were held pointing towards each other with a finger or
  thumb on each key, up to 10 dots could be punched at a time
  before the carriage was moved to the left to make the next part of
  the letter.  A handle at the side was worked to move the carriage
  down to the next line.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
                    Raphigraphe
  Guide du Muse, Association Valentin Hay, Fig. 14.
                           
  The Institut Royal des Sourds-Muets et des Aveugles at Bruges
  has preserved the letter written by Braille on 21st May, 1842, to
  the abb Carton, the school's founder, to demonstrate the use of
  the Foucault machine.  "The address, written by the same means,
  was so clear that the packet, posted in Paris on 22nd May, was
  received by the abb Carton in Bruges the following day" (Henri,
  1952, p.100, footnote).  Some of Braille's letters to his family are
  also extant [Coupvray].  This method enabled quicker, more
  accurate writing to be carried out but the machine was expensive
  so many people continued to use the hand frame.
  
  The raphigraphe was in use for approximately 50 years until it was
  replaced by machines for typing dot patterns which were first
  invented in Germany and in America.  These may be regarded as
  the forerunners of the print typewriter.  They had six keys only for
  punching the dots as well as a space bar.
  
  Attempts were made from time to time to modify Braille's plan
  using nine, seven, five, four, and even three dots in height to
  represent the letters but with varying success.  An example using
  a 4 x 4 matrix has been found recently on a library shelf at the
  Edinburgh School for the Blind.  It consists of a small hand-written
  booklet in French produced by "E.V." in Dunkirk in 1898 and is
  referred to as "Traitpoint" (linepoint).  Not only is the method
  described in detail and illustrations supplied in both reading and
  writing aspects of the signs, including numbers and punctuation,
  but diagrams are included showing the order in which the dots
  should be made in an attempt to improve rate of writing.  As in
  Braille's "Nouveau Procd" the dots are numbered and given in
  linear form for making the configurations.
  
  By 1840 Braille's health had deteriorated so much that he was
  forced to give up class teaching.  He was given permission to
  continue living at the school but he also needed frequent times of
  recuperation at his home in the country.  By 1847 he resumed
  work but by 1850 he was only giving occasional music lessons. 
  He died on 6th January, 1852.
  
  11.     EPILOGUE
  
  Braille had considered the 1837 procd to be the definitive
  version of his work, but others found by experience the need to
  build on to it.
  
  Printing
  This was also improved.  Instead of pages pressed from moveable
  type, in 1849 Laas d'Aguen invented embossed stereotyping on
  one side of metal sheets from which multi-copies could be made. 
  "Imitation de Jesus Christ" by Thomas  Kempis [muse Valentin
  Hay] was one of the first books to be printed in this way.  The
  pages include two small punctiform illustrations, which must be
  the first examples of such use.  Ballu and Levitte, circa 1867,
  introduced two-sided stereotyping.  By 1888 Ballu was printing by
  the interpoint method, that is printing each column of the signs of
  the second side of the paper between those of the first side
  (Henri, 1952, 91-92).  By this means 100% of space could be
  saved and as stereotyping required thinner paper the size of the
  books was much reduced.
  
  The Diffusion of the Braille Code
  By the inclusion of the Lord's Prayer in six languages in his
  procd of 1837 (pp.8-18) and sending it to "all the institutions in
  existence" (Pignier, 1860, p.107), Braille must have hoped that
  many other blind people abroad would benefit from use of his
  code.  In the main acceptance was slow.  It was officially adopted
  in French-speaking Switzerland in 1858 (Henri, 1852, p.77), but
  other countries were slow to accept the new method, especially as
  it would need adaptation if contractions and shortform words were
  to be used.  Both Edinburgh and Glasgow institutions received
  copies but Britain did not accept the braille code until 1870.  Klein
  of the Vienna institute and Knie of Breslau rejected the code for
  several years on the grounds that it made a barrier between blind
  and sighted.  Gaudet, who had done much to encourage its use
  in the Paris school, edited a journal entitled "L'Instituteur des
  Aveugles" 1855-1865 (ibid., p.76) in which he occasionally
  included articles on the code and it is thought that it was Gaudet
  who finally persuaded Knie to introduce the code in Breslau. 
  Confusion arose elsewhere because St. Marie of Leipzig
  introduced a code in which the signs containing the fewest dots
  were used for letters which occurred most frequently.  This
  arrangement saved space and improved writing time, but made
  translation to other languages impossible for letter frequencies
  would be different.
  
  In an attempt to solve these problems an international congress
  was held in Paris in 1878, one of whose mandates was "to study
  the various methods of printing and writing with a view to the
  uniformity of the systems" (proceedings of the Congress for the
  Improvement of the Lot of the Blind and the Deaf Mutes, p.187). 
  Discussion was heated, but finally a large majority "voted in favour
  of the general adoption of the unmodified braille system" (ibid.,
  p.183).  This was a momentous decision which avoided years of
  indecision.
  
  As a result of the congress, Levitte, who was head of the teaching
  staff at the Paris school, issued a pamphlet entitled
  "Anaglyptographie et Raphigraphie de Braille" (1880).  The
  contents were based on Braille's work as the title suggests but
  also includes the additions made by Ballu, who had been a pupil
  and then friend of Braille.  (The ugly nomenclature of the title was
  invented by Levitte.)  The pamphlet appears in three parts,
  anaglyptographie (uncontracted braille), stnographie (contracted
  braille), and lastly, raphigraphie, which was a replication of the
  details included in Braille's "Nouveau Procd.
  
  Besides numbering the dots within the cell for ready reference, the
  capital letter signs (dots 4-6 in front of a letter) was introduced.  In
  1932, the sign was changed to dot 6 preceding a letter.  There is
  also more detailed information concerning the use of mathematics
  signs in the literary code (ibid., p.6), viz:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  lm
  lm
  
  
  
  ll
  ll
   
  +
  -
  x
  
  =
  >
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   (
   )
     II
  
  
  
  
  
  No information was given concerning rules for their use. In the
  "stnographie" section 38 partwords were included, seven whole
  words, a few suffices and 44 shortforms.  Unlike the shortform
  words used in English braille today, there seems to have been
  little attempt to help the memory by retaining most of the
  consonants.  This seems contrary to Braille's principles.  In 1882
  de la Sizeranne (1857-1924), a teacher at l'Institut, revised the
  French braille code to make it more orthographically correct, a
  further revision took place in 1924 and there have been later
  revisions (Henri, 1952, p.92).
  
  12.     CONCLUSION
  
  Hay, Barbier and Braille all made their contributions towards
  literacy being possible for blind people.  Hay was the first to
  believe education was possible, he opened the first school for
  them, discovered a viable means of tactile print and set up a
  printing department for producing embossed material.  Barbier
  used a system invented for sighted soldiers which happened to
  have merit for use by the blind.  He, like Hay, was sighted and
  did not fully understand the tactile problems involved, but his great
  contribution was the use of points rather than the closely packed
  lines and curves of the Roman alphabet, and he also arranged the
  points in two parallel lines.  Relying on touch for cognition Braille
  halved the size of Barbier's cell so that it was the right size to be
  under the pad of the reading finger, and he used alphabetically
  correct spelling instead of phonetic sounds.  We can agree with
  Pignier (1859, p.14) that "Thus to modify is not to perfect but to
  invent".
  
  The blind inmates of the school, such as Coltat, Ballu, and de la
  Sizeranne, not only realised the great benefit of the braille code,
  but wrote about it.  Such was its success that sighted directors of
  the school also watched its success, "It was Pignier, Dufau,
  Gaudet, who in their writings proclaimed the merits of the new
  alphabet, not out of vanity and for the honour of the Institution, but
  because as Directors or Head Teachers of a school for the blind,
  they had personal experience of the enormous service which
  Braille had rendered to his fellows" (Henri, 1952, p.64).
  
  