Bell Alexander



Alexander Graham Bell Signed School of Vocal Physiology Diploma

Large diploma on vellum, 16.5" x 13.75". Partially printed document signed by Alexander Graham Bell in full signature as "Alexander Graham Bell", and dated "May 22, 1877". Diploma certificate for "Eva Ballard", who has "satisfactorily completed the prescribed course in this School and is hereby granted the privileges of a Graduate of the "School of Vocal Physiology". Lightly toned document with some fading to Bell's signature which appears to ever so lightly have been touched up. Matted to an overall size of 19.5" x 16.75".

The area of vocal physiology covers the parts of the body involved in producing sound with the voice. Generally when we think of the voice we think of primarily the larynx. When he was 25, Bell opened his School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech in Boston, MA, where he taught deaf people to speak. At age 26, although he did not have a university degree, he became Professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at the Boston University School of Oratory. Speech had become his life: his mother had gone deaf, and Bell's father had developed a method of teaching deaf people to speak, which Bell also taught. His research into mechanizing human speech had become a relentless obsession.

Alexander Graham Bell was one of the primary inventors of the telephone, did important work in communication for the deaf and held more than 18 patents, this fantastic document was signed by Bell in same year of founding the Bell Telephone Company in 1877, and in the same year as his marriage to Mable Hubbard, a former student and the daughter of Gardiner Hubbard, one of his early financial backers. Mable had been deaf since her early childhood years.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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