James H. Frere, Directions for Teaching the Blind to Read, by the Combination of Elementary Sounds. Pamphlet (c. 1841). Pamphlet. Dimensions: 215 x 270mm (open)

RNIB Collection Acc No: L1/13

Credit: RNIB

James Frere, associated with charitable institutions in London and Liverpool, developed an arbitrary system based on phonetic principles, which he described as ‘a scientific representation of speech’. His alphabet contained one character for each of the simple sounds in the English language as Frere identified them, embossed according to the pronunciation decided by Walker’s Pronouncing Dictionary. Pupils were first taught orally to distinguish different sounds, then to remember embossed characters using the Memoria Technica outlined here, but the system was criticised for its complexity. This pamphlet and defense of his system was inserted in copies of his multi-volume Bible edition (1843-51).

A relief image of this work is available in the exhibition.

Object description:

This page is open on pages 2-3 and contains printed text.  The transcription starts from two thirds down the length of page 2, at the start of a section heading titled ‘MEMORIA TECHNICA’. [Transcription]: ‘The pupil will now be taught to feel the short-hand characters of the Embossed Grammar, using one finger of his right-hand to feel with, and of his left-hand to keep his place, and will repeat this following Memoria Technica, describing them and connecting their forms with the sounds they uniformly represent’. [End first portion of transcription] Below this line is the start of a table, divided into three columns of unequal sizes: the column on the left hand side is narrowest, containing a single Roman alphabet letter character; the middle column is slightly wider, and contains the symbols of Frere’s alphabet; the third column is widest, and contains printed sentences. The following description lists the content of each row, with columns separated by semi-colons. [transcription resumes] Row 1: t; vertical line positioned centre of column; A line going straight upwards is teh—[Teh] Tries To be Tall and to Touch the Top. Row 2: n; horizontal line positioned centre of row; A line going straight forwards is a—[N] n n n is Neat, Narrow, and Nicely balanced. Row 3: d; diagonal line, sloping downwards top left to bottom right; A line descending forwards is deh—[Deh] Descends by a Deep and Dangerous Declivity. Row 4: r; diagonal line, sloping upwards from bottom left to top right; A line rising forward is ur—[uR] rrr Rises Regularly, and Rapidly, like a Royal Road. [Page 3] Row 5: l; semi-circle, curved edge facing towards bottom of page; A half circle looking upwards is l—[L] l l l Lies Level and Looks Like a Lake. Row 6: p; semi-circle, curved edge facing up towards top of page; A half circle looking downwards is peh—[Peh] has its Points Placed upon the Plain, like the Patriarchal Promise of Pardon and Peace. Row 7: m; a semi-circle, curved edge facing towards right hand side of page; A half circle looking backwards is m—[M] m m m is the Moon Moving backwards as it Makes its Monthly March. Row 8: k; a semi-circle, curved edge facing towards left hand side of page; A half circle looking forwards is keh—[Keh] is a Crescent in the Canopy of the Sky, looking forward in its Course. Row 9: f; A straight vertical line, with a top edge hooked on the left hand side; A hooked line, the hook upward looking backwards is uf—[uF] f f f is a Fine Figure and Fop of a Fellow looking behind him, Fearing that he is Followed. Row 10: g; a straight vertical line, with a top edge hooked on the right hand side; A hooked line, the hook downwards looking backwards is geh—[Geh] Goes on with Great Gravity like one Grown Grey with Grumbling. Row 11: j; a straight vertical line, the bottom edge hooked on the left hand side; A hooked line, the hook downwards looking backwards is jeh—[Jeh] is John or Joseph skating backwards on St. James’ canal. Row 12: b; a straight vertical line, the bottom edge hooked on the right hand side; A hooked line, the hook downwards looking forwards is beh—[Beh] is Best known By Being Bent Before at the Bottom. Row 13: th; An open triangle shape, two straight lines meeting at a point facing towards the bottom of the page, with a swirled horizontal line directly below; An angle looking upwards, the straight line backwards—the same as an half circle looking upwards, the dot backwards, is uth, or uTH—[uTH] th th th or [uTH] TH TH TH is like nothing THat I can THink of, but a THing for the THirsty, That has had its farTHest handle broken off by a Thump. Row 14: z; An open triangle shape, two straight lines meeting at a point facing downwards, a swirled horizontal line directly below (this is the reverse of ‘th’, Row 13); An angle looking upwards, the straight line forwards—the same as a half circle looking upwards, the dot forwards is z—[Z] z z z is a buZZing fly sitting at the farthest edge of a milk bowl. Row 15: oo; An open triangle shape, two straight lines meeting at a point facing upwards, directly below is a swirled horizontal line; An angle looking downwards, the straight line backwards—the same as an half circle looking downwards, the dot backwards is oo—[OO] turns and stOOps to buckle his shOe. Row 16: v; An open triangle shape, two straight lines meeting at a point facing upwards, directly below is a swirled horizontal line (the reverse of ‘oo’ row 15); An angle looking downwards, the straight line forwards—the same as an half circle looking downwards, the dot forwards is V—[V] v v v is a Very Villain, or else the Victim of Violence. NB this is imagined to look like a man about to be beheaded. [Description ends]