 Braille was helped by the Haüy books , but he also despaired over their lack of depth : the amount of information kept in such books was necessarily small . Because the raised letters were made in a complex artisanal process using wet paper pressed against copper wire , the children could not hope to " write " by themselves . So that the young Louis could send letters back home , Simon @-@ René provided him with an alphabet fashioned from bits of thick leather . It was a slow and cumbersome process , but the boy could at least trace the letters ' outlines and write his first sentences . 
