PAUMIER (Jh.). Méthode de lecture, en douze leçons... Suivis d'un choix de lectures à l'usage des enfants. Paris: Imprimerie de l'Institution Royale des Jeunes Aveugles, An 1836. - Large folio, 425x285: (3 ff.), 120 pp. Contemporary boards, untrimmed. Extremely rare first edition, printed in relief and not inked, of this educational work by M. Paumier, "a schoolteacher in Sotteville-les-Rouen". The method he proposes attempts to innovate the learning of reading for young blind people by simplifying the pronunciation of letters and sounds. Consonants (such as b, d, f) should be pronounced as if they were followed by a silent e: for example, be, de, fe (and not bé, dé, effe), as at the end of the words bombe, liquide or girafe. Vowels (e, é, è, ê) are pronounced naturally, without resorting to technical terms like "é accent aigu" or "è accent grave": simply say hé or est. Complex sounds (eu, au, et, ai, on, etc.) are treated as indivisible units: for example, feu is pronounced fe eu, without spelling. Spelling is avoided in favor of direct syllable recognition, although tolerance may be granted to students with difficulties. Articulations (ch, gn, ph) follow the same rule: ch as in pêche (che), gn as in règne (gne), and ph as in philosophe (f). Double consonants (cl, pr) and variable consonants (c, g, s, t) are covered in later lessons. A comparative table of old and new pronunciations has been printed at the front, giving students a clear tool for mastering the sounds of the language. These methods are followed by a selection of texts for children: Extracts from Histoire Sainte. - Histoire d'Alibée. - Theodore or the True Way of Doing Good. - The Snow. - The Lamb. - Tulips. - The Strawberries and the Gooseberries. - The Two Apple Trees. - The Blacksmith. Small selection of anecdotes, etc. This copy, the only one we know of in private hands, is also the only one ever to have been offered for public sale. The Dieppe library appears to be the only public institution to hold a copy. Rubbing and wear to boards, lower part of spine partly worn. Soiling to leaves.