Accession Number: 1999.1.2
Description: Black-and-white glossy photo of two braillewriters invented, designed, and manufactured by Raymond Lavender. At top is the removed cover of Model IV, with a handle and two small hook latches on the front and, on the center top, an attached label that reads "Lavender Braille Writer, Model IV." At center is the uncovered Model IV, which is metal and measures about 11.75 inches from left end to right end and about 3 inches from front to back (a 12-inch ruler, also in the photo is placed directly in front of the braillewriter to provide size comparison). On the top, are the braille keys, three on each side of a space bar, all attached to an exposed track; a bell is behind the keys at left; and a turn knob is at the left end. Along the top back edge is a metal bar beneath which paper can be inserted. The Model IV is attached to a wooden base that has two protruding screws on the front edge to accommodate the lid latches. At bottom in the photo is Model I, also of metal, which measures about 9 inches from left end to right end and about 2.5 inches front to back. Across the top back of the writer is a stationery horizontal rod to which is attached a sliding piece that extends forward, has a round button-shaped handle, and can be moved to the left or right above a single line of 20(?) cells of raised pins. Six round braille keys, arranged in two columns of three each, are located at a slightly higher level at far right and can be pressed after the sliding piece has been positioned. Photographer's name is stamped in black ink on reverse: "Bert Boice, Commercial Photographer, 5 Third Street, Troy, N.Y." Handwritten in black ink on reverse: "March 28, 1946," and "Lavender Braille Writer Models I & IV."
Medium: Photographic Paper
Print Size: 10" (h) x 8" (w)
Date: 1946
Photographer: Boice, Bert
History/Provenance: Photograph was sent by inventor Raymond Lavender to A.C. Ellis, superintendent of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), in 1946. Lavender was hoping to interest APH in his braillewriter, a later model of which was eventually produced by the company in the mid-1950s.
Credit Line: APH Archives
Subjects: Braillewriters
