Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-06
LITERATURE FOR THE BLIND.
A Great Variety Of Books Printed I'm
Embossed Type.


From the New York SUM-
Have you playing cards for the blind?'
was asked by customer of a New York
bookseller.
The question was asked in the interest of
an old gentleman whose chief amusement
is playing cards, who seems about to be
robbed of that by reason of fast approach
ing blindness. The bookseller had no play
ing cards for the blind. but he referred the
customer to a house that makes a special
ty of printing for the blind and 1t is as likely
as not that playing cards for the blind
will shortly be provided
There are several institutions in this
country that make a specially of printing
for the blind, and the multiplication Of the
so-called embossed books and of special de-
vices for the amusement or profit Of the
blind has been very great within the past
ten years. There have been primers and
Bibles for the blind these many years. and
standard books of English literature began
to be printed for the blind soon after the
matter or their spiritual welfare had been
provided for. But cow popular books have
begun to find their way into libraries for
those who cannot see. AS yet, the strong
ly evangelical influences that have prevail
&c in institutions for the blind have re-
stricted the choice of books to be printed
In the embossed type. Alcott Mrs Bur-
nett. Susan Coolidge. Edward Everett Hale,
Bret Harte, the Kingsleys, Kate Douglas
way into the libraries for the blind. Half
dozen plays of Shakespeare have been
printed in the embossed type by Perkins
institute OF Boston. You may have in
this type the essays of Emerson. the poems
of Longfellow, Lowell, Bryant and Whit
tier. besides Millions Paradise Lost" Sc
lecttons II ON Pope, Byron, Sir Walter Scott
and Tenryson. Some of John Fiske's his
tories have been printed for the blind and
so have selected novels of Hawthorne
Dickens and George Eliot. Full sets are
seldom attempted, the object being to fur
nish as large variety as possible of the
most popular classics. Elementary scien-
tific works have been published in the en-
bossed type. and the Boston concern is
about to issue a Latin-English lexicon
There is a considerable variety of sheet
music published for the blind including
pieces for orchestral rendering for the vio-
lin and for the piano, as well as for the
voice. Works on the science of music have
also been prepared for the blind
The cost Of books for the blind prevents
the multiplication of such works, and, of
course, the small demand for embossed
books helps to keep up the price. The
works Of Dickens in embossed type cost
Bede" costs 81. Hawthorne's Scarlet Let
ter" is IS. Paradise Lost" is s.. The
New Testament costs much as $50,
though 1t Is published in cheaper form
encyclopaedia for the blind at SO. Music
is comparatively cheap at from five cents
TO seVenty-nve cents piece. Some of the
best classical music is sold at less than 81
piece. School books are cheap.
Blind persons of abundant means are
able now to acquire a knowledge of many
foreign tongues through the aid of books
specially prepared for the purpose and
may be fairly well read in the grea. mas
tiers Of English literature. but not in the
masters that have ceased to be truly popu-
lar. AS to the blind Of small means their
opportunities for reading are still narrow
unless they can have access to the library
of some public institution for their fell
lows in afIiiction. The unwieldy bulk of
looks for the blind makes the collection of
even a small library serious undertake
ing, and such a library demands great
space for its housing. An octave book of
$50 pages in one volume, small plea type, is
expanded in the embossed printing to two
great folio volumes each four inches thick
To house library of 800 volumes in the
embossed type would require a space large
enough to hold more than 5000 volumes of
ordinary printed books