Biography:

Robert Charles Moon was the son of William Moon (1818-1894) who had lost his sight in early manhood. Unable to pursue his wish to become a priest, William devoted his life to the blind. Because the embossed type which is named for Louis Braille (1809-1852) was considered difficult to learn, William Moon invented another embossed type which became known as "Moon type". He printed his first sheet of raised characters on a wooden hand-press in his house at Brighton in 1847. William Moon was a pioneer in the teaching of the blind. He established the "Moon's Institution for Embossing and Circulating the Holy Scriptures and Other Useful Books."
His son Robert's choice of a career in ophthalmology was determined by his early experiences in assisting his father in translating and transcribing reading matter for the visually handicapped. As early as in 1858 and on several subsequent occasions, Robert travelled with his father through Holland and parts of Germany, where his father wished to interest the institutions for the blind in his system.
Robert qualified in medicine in London and held a surgical appointment at the South London Ophthalmic Hospital during the period 1866-1878. This hospital had been founded by his senior colleague John Zacchariah Laurence. He then visited ophthalmological clinics in Paris and Utrecht and in 1879 emigrated to the United States. He received a diploma from the Jefferson College, Philadelphia and settled into ophthalmological practice in that city. He carried on his fathers work, establishing the Moon Press for the Blind and involving himself in their welfare.
In 1882, Dr. William Moon made an extensive tour of America, and as a result of his visit, free lending libraries were established in Philadelphia. In 1871 he had been given the Hon. degree of LL.D. by the University of Philadelphia in recognition of his work for the blind.
Robert C. Moon continued his philantropic activities for the blind after his retirement and became Secretary of the Pennsylvania Home Teaching Society, Boston, Chicago and Pittsburgh. In 1905 he became the editor of the monthly "Moon Magazine", published by Gardner's Trust for the Blind.