Accessible Information

The history of Moon

Summary: Information about Dr William Moon and the system of reading by touch he invented.

Dr William Moon
Moon links

The Moon system of embossed reading was invented by Dr William Moon in 1845. Many people know about the braille system of reading by touch; fewer have heard of Moon.

Moon is a simpler method based upon the standard alphabet. This is made up of 14 characters used at various angles, each with a clear bold outline. For many elderly blind people especially, Moon is easier to learn than braille. However, Moon is increasinly difficult to find so many people gain confidence from learning Moon to move onto braille.

Dr William Moon

William Moon was born in Kent in 1818. He lost his sight at the age of 21 after being partially sighted throughout his childhood. He soon mastered all the existing systems of embossed reading available at that time but found none of them particularly satisfactory.

William Moon set about designing a simple system which was easy to learn. At that time he was teaching blind boys, who quickly got to grips with his new system.

In 1847, Dr Moon issued his first booklet in Moon. It was 'The Last Days of Polycarp', and was followed a month later by 'The Last Hours of Cranmer'.

As news of the new system spread, requests for sections of the Bible flooded in. As Dr Moon was producing all the documents at home in his spare time, this meant that he had to find a way of making printing plates.

In 1856, a small workshop was built near to Moon's home in Brighton with the help of Sir Charles Lowther, his friend and benefactor.

Dr Moon travelled widely, establishing libraries and home teaching societies throughout the British Isles. With his son and daughter he travelled the world - setting up printing presses as he went.

William Moon died in 1894, but his work was carried on by his daughter, Adelaide. On her death, the Moon Works became part of the then National Institute for the Blind.

Moon links

Moon Literacy - external site with Moon resources, information and downloadable fonts.

Learning Moon
About braille and Moon
Moon collection - titles in the Library.
Buy Moon products from the online shop.
Search for further information about Moon in our Publications Archive.