Browse Items (16 total)

Not unlike letterpress cases for the sighted, these cases for the blind were organized according to letter, case (upper or lower), signs, accented letters, figures, etc. They were set at a forty-five degree angle so that the letters would not move…

These engravings are from an 1819 essay by the director of Paris' institute for the blind. They depict the punches and matrices used to print a twenty-five letter alphabet that was discernible by touch—the two sides of the "u" were separated to…

Frances Browne (1816-1879) was a writer and poet from Donegal, Ireland. At the age of 18 months, she contracted smallpox and became blind—which is striking given the amount of visual imagery she includes in her writing. Her brothers and sisters read…

Illustrator Katharine Pyle (1863-1938) was the sister of lauded artist Howard Pyle. She studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women and the New York Art Students’ League. The Counterpane Fairy was the first success of her career, in which…

This highlight of Merrymind’s broken fiddle is a curious thing to include at the chapter’s conclusion. After Merrymind meets the night-spinners and plays music which frees an entire community from slavish work, Browne writes that “man, woman, and…

In “The Story of Childe Charity,” the titular character is a young orphan in the care of her greedy aunt and uncle. Pyle’s ink illustration depicts her in her misfortune, a wistful look on her face as she sits on a stool and gazes at what could be…