Before Braille
I read. I write. I am.
A Journey Through the History of Tactile Writing
The exhibition space “Before Braille” connects historical objects with human stories. It illustrates that the search for a tactile language was more than a technical invention – it was an expression of the human desire for participation, education, and self-determination.
At its heart lies the question of how communication was possible before a standardized dot script existed. Each object represents a stage on the path toward the invention of Braille and highlights the ingenuity and determination to overcome barriers.
Object 1 – Quipus: Tactile Communication Before Writing
The journey begins with a remarkable artifact from South America. The Quipus – systems of knots and cords used by the Inca – served to record information and were both visual and tactile in nature. These first tactile information systems are early examples of an inclusive form of communication that existed as early as the 7th century CE.
Object 2 – The Historical Development of Writing for the Blind
A chronological display leads through three centuries of evolving ideas: from the 17th century with Francesco Lana di Terzi, through Valentin Haüy and Johann Wilhelm Klein, to Charles Barbier and Louis Braille. It shows how technical, educational, and social changes contributed to the emergence of a new written culture.
Object 3 – Francesco Lana Terzi and the Terzi Alphabet
In 1670, the Jesuit Francesco Lana Terzi designed a writing concept using lines and dots embossed into paper to make them tactile. He also proposed tools for “hand guidance” – a technique still used today by people who are blind, for example when signing documents. His system represents the first documented attempt at tactile writing, even though it was never applied in practice.
Object 4 – Relief and Raised Letters
Relief, profile, and raised scripts were early attempts to make writing readable for blind people. They were based on conventional black print and simplified into tactile forms. Various materials – such as metal, wood, or wire – were used for experimentation. This phase marks the transition from handcrafted trials to educational systems, showing how closely writing, technology, and inclusion were connected.
Object 5 – Valentin Haüy and the Embossed Print
In 1784, the French educator Valentin Haüy founded the world’s first school for the blind in Paris. His observation that printed letters could be felt through the paper led to the invention of embossed print. Haüy created letters that could be read by touch and developed the “Haüy noire,” a darkened embossed print that was also legible to sighted readers. This object marks the beginning of systematic education for people who are blind.
Object 6 – Johann Wilhelm Klein’s Needle Script
In 1807, Viennese educator Johann Wilhelm Klein invented the so-called Needle Script. Fine needles were pressed into paper in reverse, creating tactile dots that formed letters. Although the reading process was slow and laborious, Klein’s script represented an important step – it could be read by both blind and sighted individuals.
Object 7 – Charles Barbier and the Night Writing
In 1815, French artillery captain Charles Barbier developed a twelve-dot writing system to allow soldiers to read messages in the dark without lighting candles. This “Night Writing” inspired the young Louis Braille, who simplified the complex system into the six-dot code still used worldwide today. Barbier is therefore considered a key pioneer of modern Braille.
Quipus is a fascinating artifact that served as a means of communication for the peoples of South America. It is a complex system of knots and strings. Several secondary or attached cords with knots are fastened to a main cord. The length and type of knots as well as colors represent different information.
Before the Spanish conquest, it was used by the peoples of the Andean region and the Incas to record quantities, historical documentation, and transmit messages.
Its origin dates back to the 7th century AD, but it continued to be used as a visual and tactile means of communication in remote Andean regions until the 17th century.
Quipus were the first tactile information systems that could also be deciphered by blind people.
17th Century
1670 Proposal by Francesco Lana di Terzi (Italy) for an alphabet for the blind, which was never used (Terzi alphabet)
18th Century
- 1784 Valentin Haüy founds the world's first institute for the blind in Paris
- 1786 Production of the first book in “blind script” (Haüy alphabet)
19th Century
- 1804 Founding of the first German-language school for the blind in Vienna by Johann Wilhelm Klein
- 1806 Founding of the first German school for the blind in Berlin-Steglitz by Johann August Zeune
- 1807 Barbed script by Johann Wilhelm Klein (Vienna)
- 1809 Louis Braille is born in Coupvray near Paris
- 1815 Charles Barbier develops the first dot based writing system (sonography) as a military night writing system
- 1819/1820 Charles Barbier presents his sonography to the Paris Institute for the Blind
- 1825 Introduction of the 6-dot script by Louis Braille (development 1821 - 1825)
December 10th, 1631 - February 22nd, 1687
Catholic priest of the Jesuit order. He designed an airship as early as the 17th century. In his book, ‘Prodrome, or Essay on Some New Inventions Preceding the Master Art‘ he describes in one chapter “How a person born blind can not only learn to write, but also hide their secrets under a cipher and understand the answers in the same ciphers.”
His suggestion was to translate the letters into a system of lines and mark them with dots, embossing them onto paper so that they were tactile for blind people. He also advised that if blind people wanted to write the script of the sighted, they should use strings or wires to hold the line. He was thus also the inventor of “hand guidance,” which is used today in a modified form by blind people, for example, when signing their names. Terzi's system was the first writing system consisting of raised dots and lines that could be read by the blind. However, it was never put into practice.
The Terzi Alphabet
Francesco Lana di Terzi - 1670, Italy
The letters J, K, W, X, and Y are missing from the original Italian alphabet.
Illustration: The Terzi-Alphabet
Tactile representation of letters, symbols, or patterns that can be felt with the fingers and also read with the eyes. In contrast to dot-based writing systems, this is based on black script, which is simplified and represented graphically. Before the invention of printing, there was only handwritten script, which was neither tactile for blind people nor possible for them to write, as it was impossible to check what had been written. Printed black letter could not be read either, as it was not raised. The view was taken that blind people should learn cursive writing. The reasoning behind this was that a separate system used only by these people would be tantamount to stigmatization and exclusion. However, this theory was soon rejected because it failed in practice. It was not until Johannes Gutenberg invented printing around 1450 that it became possible to reproduce written works in multiple printed editions.
Two hundred years later, mirror-image letters cast in metal, movable type, inspired the development of a system of embossed writing for blind people, in which the letters were not embossed in mirror image on the back of the paper but were raised and tactile on the front. However, before this system was used in the education of the blind, there were many other attempts. Tin letters or characters formed from wire or letters made of wood were used to convey words and entire texts.
The oldest school for the blind in the world, the Institution Royale des Jeunes Aveugles, now the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris, was founded in 1784 by Valentin Haüy. He taught a blind teenager, François Le Sueur, the alphabet using wooden letters. When feeling a printed page, Le Sueur recognized the letter O. The printing press had pressed this letter more strongly into the paper. This gave Haüy the idea of embossing letters into paper so that they could be read with the fingers.
The letters from letterpress printing could not be used because they were mirror-inverted and the typesetting was done from right to left. He had metal letters made and a matrix, the negative piece, so that the embossing would not deform. Many attempts were necessary to find the right choice of paper. To prevent the paper from sticking, he treated the metal types with dry soap. Once all the parameters worked together, Haüy was able to provide a larger collection of important books in embossed print for teaching purposes. Another special feature was the “Haüy noire.” To make the printed text easy to read for both blind and sighted people, the embossed letters were blackened by placing ink-coated parchment paper on the side to be embossed.
At the end of the 18th/beginning of the 19th century, it was decided to use the black lettering embossed on paper as a standard template for teaching texts to blind young people.
The Haüy Alphabet
Valentin Haüy - 1784, Paris - alphabet presumed
Illustration: The presumed Haüy-Alphabet
This raised-dot writing system was invented in 1809 by Johann Wilhelm Klein. The Latin letters were represented by many fine needles that were punched into the paper in mirror image.
The script had no continuous lines, but rather many small dots. In order to read the text, each letter had to be scanned individually, which took a very long time.
The only advantage of this system was that the script could be read by both sighted and blind people.
Illustration: The ‘Stachelschrift‘ by Johann Wilhelm Klein - 1807, Vienna
In 1815, Barbier invented a writing system consisting of two rows of six raised dots each. The idea behind it was that troops at the front could read messages even in the dark and would not give away their location by lighting candles.
Barbier's writing was based on pronunciation. The 12 dots made it difficult to grasp, and it was also very difficult to mark syllables and vowels. As a result, his writing did not catch on in the army.
In 1819, Barbier contacted the Institut Royal des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris and presented the 12-dot script in 1820. Eleven-year-old Louis Braille immediately recognized that this system was better suited for imparting knowledge and tactile absorption. He reduced the complexity of the 12 dots to six.
Barbier's writing system thus inspired Louis Braille to develop his braille system.
Illustration: Night Writing Alphabet according to Charles Barbier