2009.24.9

Liessens Music Writer

Liessans, August

(a) Masonite board with Masonite paper clamp at top, two knurled nickel fittings hold clamp in place; four nickel-lined holes on left side; four rubber feet on base, long sides of board are chamfered ; (b) open rectangular nickel frame that slides up or down the front of the board and is secured in position by a knurled steel pin on right; evenly spaced vertical lines scribed into lower bar of frame; (c) nickel template that fits in the frame and slides across the board to guide the writing of staff notation, with stencil-like openings for drawing straight lines, and the treble clef, bass clef, and notes; "Liessens Music Writer" is stamped at top right.

H-14.125 W-13.25 D-1.75 inches

September 1948

American Foundation for the Blind

August Liessens (1894-1954), a naturalized Canadian organist and professor of music who was visually impaired, invented the Liessens Music Writer for blind users to write musical notation for the sighted. The machine was marketed by the American Foundation for the Blind, and was described in the September 1946 issue of "Outlook for the Blind," p. 206. The article mentions that the Liessans Writer was to be manufactured by the Industrial Scientific Company. Production did not begin however, until 1948 (Outlook, Sept 1948, p. 230).

AFB Migel Memorial Library Collection, 2009.24