|
|
The On-Line Museum and Encyclopedia of Vision Aids.
Recent News Articles: July 2013, Treasures Magazine and Winter 2014, Pitt Magazine |
|||||
|
|
The On-Line Museum and Encyclopedia of Vision Aids.
Recent News Articles: July 2013, Treasures Magazine and Winter 2014, Pitt Magazine |
|||||
Major 21st Century Optical Discoveries
|
|
 |
Abraham Lincoln’s smaller folding
spectacles turn out to be a little recognized and underappreciated national treasure.
Indeed, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC holds one of the
rarest and therefore greatest pairs of eyeglasses ever created. (read more) |
 |
A unique early 17th century painting
where Baby Jesus holds eyeglasses, thought to have been destroyed during
the First World War is the greatest anachronism in existence.
Fortunately it survived and has now surfaced in a private collection. (read more) |
 |
Madame Alfred Heymann’s optical collection was absolutely the greatest ever, yet it disappeared upon her death in 1925. Hiding in storage at nine different prominent museums around Paris, the major portions of it have now been located. (read more) |
 |
The year 1714 is the new possible date for the development of side arms to eyeglasses. A third trade card of Edward Scarlett has been discovered at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and this new one pushes the previous date back from 1727. (read more) |
Newest Significant Additions to the Website |
|---|
History of Contact Lenses |
Coming Soon to the Website |
|---|
Monocles & Single Vision Lenses |
Images With a Deeper Story |
|---|
Abraham Lincoln's Eyeglasses |
|
|
 |
|
|
||
| Vision Aids are amazing! Their history is truly fascinating! As works of art, they have a beauty all their own! | |||
| Certainly one of the most significant inventions of all time, they are symbols of man's incredible ingenuity and craftsmanship! | |||
| Embrace the profound impact that spectacles alone have had on the human experience over the past 730 years. | |||
| Yet they are taken for granted by nearly everyone worldwide! | |||
|
Starting with the Introduction and Goals, wander through this non-commercial, not for profit, website. You may find it enlightening and informative to learn about these wonderful items many of us use daily. Look at the Table of Contents. This website is the result of the collaboration of International educators and is for everyone’s interest and enjoyment. It is the place where we celebrate vision aids, (and the optical lens), especially spectacles. The Real Numbers of this website keep growing because Interesting Topics and Slideshows are added regularly. All this would not have been possible without the wonderful support of many noteworthy Contributing Individuals and Participating Institutions. To improve navigation of the website, we have added Quick Links for people with special interests. |
|||
 Chronik - St. Georgen 63, (Schwarzwald, Germany); Handwriting on paper by Ulrich von Richental, Konstanz, c. 1470. urn:nbn:de:bsz:31-37921. Digital Collection online of the Badische Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe. |
 Very rare mid-19th century silver European spectacles, similar to the Christopher Smith 1839 US patent. The middle frame space is empty so three lens possibilities exist. |
 Silver temple spectacles, notice the round solid-filled finial endings, (appeared soon after the Scarlett spiral sides variety), Vascellari Collection |
 Eyeglasses”, the extraordinary work of Parisian artist Franjo Aatoth |
 Dancers with Glass boxes, (c) Lee Cheong Su, Hanbit Museum of Glasses, Seoul Korea, notice the two beautiful eyeglasses cases hanging from their waist. |
 Binocular Achromatic Spectacles, 1862 Richard Beck patent; made for reading this created base-in prisms |
 Protective spectacles made of iron, used by prisoners when breaking stone, 19th century |
 Chinese folding rimless nose spectacles with forehead support and ear loops, seen in an early 20th century publication |
|
Move your mouse over any of the images in this website
for a larger view. The images on this page are replaced several times a year. Previously used images are available in three separate slide shows. |
|||
|
|
