David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Atlas for The Blind 1837
►http://www.davidrumsey.com/blog/2012/5/21/atlas-for-the-blind-1837
The Atlas of the United States Printed for the Use of the Blind was published in 1837 for children at the New England Institute for the Education of the Blind in Boston. Without a drop of ink in the book, the text and maps in this extraordinary atlas were embossed heavy paper with letters, lines, and symbols. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first atlas produced for the blind to read without the assistance of a sighted person.
Braille was invented by 1825, but was not widely used until later. It represented letters well, but could not represent shapes and cartographic features.
