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Printing House for Blind seeks 'rare' Braille book

Martha Elson
@MarthaElson_cj
Craig Meador is the new president of the American Printing House for the Blind, 1839 Frankfort Ave., in Louisville.

The American Printing House for the Blind in Clifton will have a new president starting Friday,  who takes over as the world's largest company of its type seeks to secure an "ultra rare" book by Louis Braille – one of only six known copies in the world.

Taking the helm is Craig Meador, a former Washington state government outreach director and past principal of the Washington State School for the Blind. He has been APH's vice president of educational services and product development since May, and he succeeds Tuck Tinsley III, who is retiring after 27 years.

The ground-breaking Braille book, published in 1829, introduced the Braille system of reading and writing using raised dots – the same one still used to emboss millions of pages at the printing house each year.

The company has raised part of the $95,000 needed to purchase the book for its museum, housed on an upper floor of the complex at 1839 Frankfort Ave., and has until Jan. 29 to complete the task, said Roberta Williams, a company spokeswoman.

The book, a "treasure" whose title translated from French is "Method for Writing Words, Music and Plainsong in Dots," became available from a New York bookseller, and the printing house began efforts to acquire it after museum director Mike Hudson learned of the situation.

It's one of only two copies in the United States and would be the only one on public display, Williams said. The other is at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. The American Printing House, said to be the world's largest company devoted solely to researching, developing and manufacturing products for people who are blind or visually impaired, is next door to the Kentucky School for the Blind, 1867 Frankfort.

This "ultra rare" copy of a book by Louis Braille that the American Printing House for the Blind wants to purchase is said to be one of only six in the world.

Donations to help purchase the book may be made online at www.aph.org. They also may be mailed to: Development Department, APH, 1839 Frankfort Ave., Louisville, KY 40206; or made by phone at 1-888-295-2405. For questions, call Mike Hudson at 502-895-2405 or write to mhudson@aph.org.

Meador, the new APH president, has led a team of 90 professionals in the areas of field services, communications, research and product development, and has worked with other departments to improve the development process, according to an announcement.

"APH's mission is to promote the independence of blind and visually impaired persons by providing specialized materials and products needed for education and life," Barrett Nichols, APH board of trustees chairman, said in a statement. Meador has the "vision, energy and skills" to continue Tinsley's legacy and to work through partnerships with new technology companies, educational institutions and government leaders, Nichols said.

Meader came to APH from Washington state, where he was government director of outreach services and state vision consultant. He had been principal of the Washington State School for the Blind, where he also was a teacher, serving for 24 years in all.

He has an undergraduate degree from Western Oregon State University and a master's degree in special education from Portland State University. This year, he earned an educational doctorate degree form Washington State.

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The Braille system is considered the "foundation for literacy for blind people," Williams said. The "Method" book is the first one by blind Frenchman Louis Braille (1809-1852), a teacher whose name became synonymous with the system of raised dots representing letters, numbers, punctuation marks, etc., that are read by touch.

In 1821, the young Louis had met a soldier, Charles Barbier, who had a "clever idea" for a code based on raised dots that could be read in the dark, Williams said. Braille organized and simplified the concept and published his "elegant" code system, which is still used around the world.

She described the book as being in "incredible condition" and said its "beautiful blue marbled paper cover is bright." The 37 embossed pages are "clean and intact" and illustrate the experimental nature of early embossing for readers using wooden blocks that were pressed onto wet paper.

If the book is acquired, the museum will have a "launch" event and have it on temporary display, before a formal display is built for it, Williams said.

Reporter Martha Elson can be reached at (502) 582-7061 and melson@courier-journal.com.  Follow her on Twitter at @MarthaElson_cj.