A treatise on the nature of vision
 Catalogue Number: 1501 A treatise on the nature of vision Category: Book Sub-Category: Significant book (Aitken collection) Author: ALEXANDER Alexander Year Of Publication/Manufacture: 1833 Time Period: 19th C Place Of Publication/Manufacture: London (printed Exeter) Publisher/Manufacturer: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Co. Printer WC Pollard Description Of Item: Original patterned mauve calico boards with defective original leather label in spine. Engraved frontispiece. Historical Significance: The title page tells us that Alexander was a 'Practical Optician' to royalty, including Princess Victoria, who became Queen Victoria in 1837. This is one of the very few pre-1850 text books to have been written by an optician (optometrist). The book includes informed notes on vision, the anatomy of the eye and the prescription of spectacles. Significantly the 3-page list of pre-publication subscribers to the book includes many medical practitioners including a number of eye surgeons, one being H Alexander, the Royal Oculist and perhaps a relation of the author. Another subscriber was Frederick Tyrell, well known at the time who published Diseases of the Eye published a few years later in 1840 (See Cat No 1033) How Acquired: Donated by Michael Aitken, honorary archivist Date Acquired: June 2010 Condition: Cover faded, spine breaking and fragile but otherwise good Location: Nathan Library. Aitken collection |