Washington University Medical Center

Becker Medical Library, Washington University
Central Institute for the Deaf

DEAFNESS IN DISGUISE

Part 3

RARE BOOKS ON DEAFNESS, HEARING,
AND EDUCATION OF THE DEAF

Cover of Deschamps' book.End page of Deschamps' book.© Bernard Becker Medical LIbrary

Claude Francois Deschamps (1745-1791). Cours elementaire d'education des sourds et muets. Paris : Les freres Debure, 1779.

This image shows contemporary gold-tooled leather binding containing Deschamp's above work. This book describes the most sophisticated oral method of deaf education in the eighteenth century. A dedicated oralist, Deschamp was often criticized by advocates of the methodic sign system.

John Harrison Curtis (1778-ca.1860). A treatise on the physiology and diseases of the ear. 5th ed. London : Sherwood, Neely and Jones, 1817.

Curtis credits du Guet (1706) with being the first to use acoustic tubes to help his hearing impaired patients.

T. Hawksley. Catalogue of otacoustical instruments to aid the deaf.. 3rd ed. London : T. Hawksley, [1895].

Hawksley, in the catalog, describes himself as "acoustical instrument maker to the prinicpal aurists in England, Scotland, and Ireland, France, Germany, India, and the United States of America. Also to the Middlesex, Guy's and St. George's Hospitals." The Hawksley Catalogue describes a number of hearing devices complete with illustrations.

Cover of Holder's book.Title page of Holder's book. © Bernard Becker Medical Library

William Holder (1616-1698). Elements of speech: an essay of inquiry into the natural production of letters. London : J. Martyn, 1669.

In this work, William Holder, an Anglican clergyman and member of the Royal Society, explains the mechanics of articulation with special attention to hearing impaired people. He uses oral and written signs concurrently and applies a manual alphabet together with lip-reading.

Jean Marc Gaspard Itard (1775-1838). Traite des maladies de l'oreille et de l'audition. Paris : Mequignon-Marvis, 1821.

Several hearing devices are described in this work, including a membrane trumpet and a seashell trumpet. A rod-shaped device based on bone conduction is also described in this work.

Ellipse shaped hearing device © Bernard Becker Medical LIbrary

Ellipsis shaped hearing device from the seventeenth century.

Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680). Phonurgia nova sive conjugium mechanico-physicum artis & naturae paranymta phonosophia concinnatum. Kempten : Rudolph Dreherr, 1673.

This book by Athanasius Kircher deals with the nature of sound, acoustics, and music in general. The profusely illustrated folio contains images of hearing or listening devices among the several architectural and engineering products related to sound. A true polymath, Kircher was a mathematician, physicist, Orientalist, musician, and physician.

"Snail-shell shaped" and "curving" hearing devices from the 17th century.

William Guthrie Porter(d. 1917). Diseases of the throat, nose, and ear. Bristol: John Wright & Sons 1912.

Porter stated that patients should go to the instrument maker and test various appliances. "Size is a great disadvantage as it attracts attention to the patient's disability."

Victor Urbantschitsch (1847-1921).Auditory training for deaf mutism and acquired deafness. 1895 Translated by S. Richard Silverman. 1982 Washington, D. C.: Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.

Provides a discussion of hearing tubes for auditory training.

Snail-shell Shaped hearing devices from the 17th century. © Bernard Becker Medical LIbrary