細節
BELL, ALEXANDER GRAHAM. Autograph letter signed ("A. Graham Bell") to Mr. M.G. Avery in Chicago; Boston, 17 November 1876. 4 pages, 12mo, closely written, last page slightly darkened.
BELL AND "VISIBLE SPEECH"
In 1868 in England, Bell, 21 years of age, had studied and improved a system of education for the deaf called "Visible Speech." His father, a Doctor, had lectured on the system in Boston that year, which resulted in the founding of a special school by the Boston School Board. Alexander was sent there from England in 1871 to instruct teachers in Visible Speech and a special notational system he had devised (still the basis of the method used for teaching the deaf to talk). In 1872 Bell had opened his own school to train instructors and lectured at Boston University on the method. In the present letter he gives detailed suggestions for the establishment of a school for the deaf in Chicago. "...I can send you competent teachers at once. Miss Barker has been a pupil of mine although she is not one of my graduates. I believe she is a good teacher. I should like however to have one of my graduates take up the work in Chicago....[a list of teachers follows] I am very anxious to see Visible Speech well represented in Chicago....Let me know the minimum amout you can offer a teacher in the way of salary. Why should not you and the parents of other deaf children organize yourselves into a committee....In any case you may rely upon my best exertions to secure you a good teacher...."
Bell's work with the deaf, phonetics and electrical devices for sound enhancement led directly to his successful invention of the telephone, with which he experimented during 1873-1876. Only seven months prior to this letter, Bell uttered the first complete intelligible sentence transmitted over his invention: "Mr. Watson, come here; I want you." On 3 April 1877 he was able to conduct a conversation between Boston and New York.
BELL AND "VISIBLE SPEECH"
In 1868 in England, Bell, 21 years of age, had studied and improved a system of education for the deaf called "Visible Speech." His father, a Doctor, had lectured on the system in Boston that year, which resulted in the founding of a special school by the Boston School Board. Alexander was sent there from England in 1871 to instruct teachers in Visible Speech and a special notational system he had devised (still the basis of the method used for teaching the deaf to talk). In 1872 Bell had opened his own school to train instructors and lectured at Boston University on the method. In the present letter he gives detailed suggestions for the establishment of a school for the deaf in Chicago. "...I can send you competent teachers at once. Miss Barker has been a pupil of mine although she is not one of my graduates. I believe she is a good teacher. I should like however to have one of my graduates take up the work in Chicago....[a list of teachers follows] I am very anxious to see Visible Speech well represented in Chicago....Let me know the minimum amout you can offer a teacher in the way of salary. Why should not you and the parents of other deaf children organize yourselves into a committee....In any case you may rely upon my best exertions to secure you a good teacher...."
Bell's work with the deaf, phonetics and electrical devices for sound enhancement led directly to his successful invention of the telephone, with which he experimented during 1873-1876. Only seven months prior to this letter, Bell uttered the first complete intelligible sentence transmitted over his invention: "Mr. Watson, come here; I want you." On 3 April 1877 he was able to conduct a conversation between Boston and New York.