John Bulwer’s (1606–1656) place in the history of the Deaf

Abstract

Summary It would be unfair to characterize John Bulwer (1606–1656) as a dilettante, although he did not achieve all his goals with the deaf. He tried unsuccessfully to find the Spaniard (described by Kenelm Digby in a report of 1644) who taught speech to deaf pupils. As a Royalist during the reign of Parliament, he also was unable to find support for a ‘Dumbe Mans Academie’. While his theory of speech education was wrong in one important respect, he later read Juan Pablo Bonet (1574–1633) and, if (as it seems) his daughter was deaf, he must have tried that method – years before William Holder (1616–1698) or John Wallis (1616–1703). Their very limited success would do little more than prove it possible; Bulwer might have done at least as much.