Jun 27, 2024 - Sale 2675

Sale 2675 - Lot 262

Unsold
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(SEMAPHORE.) Charles Parker. The Armed Alphabet. Illustrated broadside, 19½ x 14 inches; edge wear, repaired tears, light soiling and dampstaining, tipped to mat board on top edge. New York, 1857
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Additional Details

This communication system, also dubbed "The Brachial Alphabet," was developed by a mute man from West Rupert, Vermont named Charles Parker. The text explains the system's many possible applications for communication across long distances. It is illustrated with a portrait of Parker, a cut of an eagle, and the letters of the alphabet spelled out with arms and legs. It was a precursor to flag semaphore (developed in 1866)--and perhaps to the Y.M.C.A. dance popularized by the Village People in 1979. No others traced at auction, and only 2 in OCLC.