CADMUS: Or, A Treatise on the Elements of Written Language [...] With an essay on the mode of teaching the surd or deaf, and consequently dumb, to speak

Before Gallaudet: "the first publication of its kind in America" (Marian H. Graham Bell)

CADMUS: Or, A Treatise on the Elements of Written Language [...] With an essay on the mode of teaching the surd or deaf, and consequently dumb, to speak

By William Thornton, M.D.

[1793]

Presentation copy extract from the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol. III, featuring the first US publication on the education of deaf people.

Very good.

Price: $2,000.00

CADMUS: Or, A Treatise on the Elements of Written Language [...] With an essay on the mode of teaching the surd or deaf, and consequently dumb, to speak

"Many of the dumb learn to communicate by their fingers, forming an alphabet, by pointing at each finger, by shutting them separately, by laying various numbers of fingers upon the other hand, first on one side, then on the other, and by different signs, passing through the whole scale of sounds – and composing words by visible motions..."

A prize dissertation proposing spelling reform into 30 letters to represent English, the enduring legacy of this article is in the related essay at the rear on teaching deaf people to speak. This essay suggests different strategies depending on the age of the learner: just as in acquiring foreign languages, children have more practical facility than adults. But for older students, learning in conjunction with reading is important – though greatly complicated by the lack of standardized spelling (a problem that inspired the main portion of this pamphlet, and also tackled by Webster in this era). The essay also briefly mentions sign language. A friend of Thornton's, Thomas Gallaudet, would later found early educational programs for deaf students. A landmark in American engagement with disability education.

Read more: Marian H. Graham Bell, "Dr. William Thornton and His Essay on "Teaching the Deaf, or Surd, and Consequently Dumb, to Speak," 1793: Sketch of the Life of William Thornton," in Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. Vol. 20 (1917); Graye, Thomas Jefferson's Washington Architect: William B. Thornton.

The Object

[Philadelphia]: [American Philosophical Society], [1793]. Full title: Cadmus; or, a treatise on the elements of written language, illustrating, by a philosophical division of speech, the power of each character, thereby mutually fixing the orthography and orthoepy. With an essay on the mode of teaching the surd or deaf, and consequently dumb, to speak. Quarto. 9'' x 6.75''. Modern wrappers, disbound from larger volume. Illustrated with one table. 261-320 pages. Inscribed by Thornton on slip tipped onto the recto of first leaf (article begins on verso of leaf). Evidence of seal removal on first leaf. Leaves gently and uniformly toned, some areas of foxing.

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