ALS signed “A. Graham Bell,” one page, 5 x 3, May 22. [circa 1874]. Handwritten letter to Prof. Abel S. Clarke at the American Asylum in Hartford, now known as the American School for the Deaf. Bell writes regarding the 'Visible Speech Pioneer,' a periodical circulated to schools and institutions to promote his father's 'visible speech' system. In full: "Pioneer No. 1 was received safely. Please forward Pioneer No. 2 to Miss Trask. As I find the cover makes little difference in the postage, please send it in cover as a greater protection." Addressed on the reverse in Bell's own hand. In fine condition, with some light soiling.
Visible Speech is a system of written symbols that represent sounds capable of being made by the human voice. This system, which can be used not only with English, but also with foreign and obscure languages, was developed by Alexander Melville Bell, father of Alexander Graham Bell, and became popular with the publication of the latter's book ‘Visible Speech’ in 1867. A. Melville Bell developed the Visible Speech system with the intent that it could aid deaf students in learning to speak through teachers trained in this system. He was invited to provide training to teachers at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes, but declined and offered his son's services instead, who had begun assisting his father with research and during various tours. Alexander Graham Bell began teaching his father's system upon his arrival in Boston in April 1871, and by March-June 1872, he was providing the same training to teachers at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Mass., and the American Asylum for the Deaf in Hartford, Conn. In 1874, Bell began printing the ‘Visible Speech Pioneer,’ a periodic publication that provided helpful information to various institutes for the deaf.
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