Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Cram, David (Lecturer in linguistics)
2. Maat, Jaap

Description

1. xvi, 327 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

1. "This book presents an edition of a previously unpublished notebook used by the seventeenth-century polymath John Wallis to teach language to the "deaf mute" Alexander Popham. Under the terms of the law Popham would not have been able to inherit his family title and property if he had remained unable to speak. This is one of the most famous cases in the history of deaf education. This notebook, which has recently come to light in the Popham family mansion, provides fascinating insights into the details of the instruction. It is a rare example of a manual tailor-made for the instruction of a known individual and its author is one of the foremost scientists of the period. If it had not been lost the work would have been a key document in the dispute between John Wallis and William Holder, both distinguished fellows of the Royal Society, on whose method had been successful in teaching Popham to speak. 'The Popham Notebook' provides essential evidence towards the resolution of a debate that has been widely discussed ever since. David Cram and Jaap Maat place the work in its personal, social, and scientific contexts. They include a range of additional contemporary texts and provide a clear text with helpful annotations. The edition provides the means for a thorough reassessment of the work's contemporary value. Their introduction also includes a discussion of the theoretical issues underpinning the teaching of language to the deaf"--Dust jacket.

Subject

1. Popham, Alexander, 1648-1707
2. Popham, Alexander, 1648-1707
3. 1600-1799
4. Deaf > Education > Early works to 1800
5. Deaf children > Language > Early works to 1800
6. Deaf > Means of communication > Early works to 1800
7. Children
8. Medicine > History > 17th century
9. Medicine > History > 18th century
10. Education of Hearing Disabled > history
11. Child
12. Deafness > history
13. History, 17th Century
14. History, 18th Century
15. children (people by age group)
16. Medicine
17. Children
18. Deaf children > Language
19. Deaf > Education
20. Deaf > Means of communication
21. Gehörlosigkeit
22. Hörgeschädigtenpädagogik
23. Jungenbildung

Genre/Form

1. History
2. Early works

Contents

1. Deafness in philosophical, medical, legal, and religious perspectives -- Teaching language to the deaf before the 1650s -- Literature on teaching language to the deaf in seventeenth-century Britain -- The education of Alexander Popham -- Aftermath and retrospect -- The Popham Notebook -- Transcription of the Notebook -- The education of Alexander Popham -- John Wallis (1661): First Letter to Boyle on teaching language to the deaf -- William Holder (1669): An appendix concerning persons deaf and dumb' -- John Wallis (1670 [1662]): Second Letter to Boyle on teaching language to the deaf -- William Holder (1678): Supplement to the Philosophical Transactions of July, 1670 -- John Wallis (1678): A defence of the Royal Society: in answer to the cavils of Dr. William Holder -- John Wallis to Thomas Beverly (1698): On teaching language to the deaf -- John Wallis and Johann Conrad Amman (1700): An exchange of letters on the method of teaching the deaf -- Henry Baker (1723): 'A short essay on speech'.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-323) and index.