logologo-optometry

AN ESSAY ON VISION briefly explaining the fabric of the eye and the nature of vision.

Catalogue Number: 23
AN ESSAY ON VISION briefly explaining the fabric of the eye and the nature of vision.
Category: Book
Sub-Category: Significant book (Aitken collection)
Author: ADAMS, George
Year Of Publication/Manufacture: 1792
Edition: Second edition
Time Period: 18th C and earlier
Place Of Publication/Manufacture: London
Publisher/Manufacturer: R Hindmarsh
Description Of Item: The book is 230 x 150 mm and has been rebound in imitation black leather. 157 pages of text followed by 13 pages of a catalogue of instruments made and sold by George Adams including spectacles costing one shilling (10 cents) to one guinea ($2.10). There is a fold out illustration with 8 figures. Slipped into the book are two modern postcards illustrating instruments built by Adams. One is a microscope made for George III and held in the Oxford Museum of Science and the other is a model of the rotation of the planets held in the Science museum in London.
Historical Significance: George Adams (1750-1795) was mathematical instrument maker to His Majesty George III (rgn 1760 -1801) and Optician to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The book was sold by the author from his shop in Fleet Street London. His father, also George Adams (-1773), was also an instrument maker. This is a very early book by an optician (optometrist).NOTE: the sub-title of the book is ' intended for the service of those whose EYES ARE WEAK OR IMPAIRED enabling them to form an accurate idea of the true state of their sight, the means of preserving it, together with more proper rules for ascertaining when spectacles are necessary, and how to choose them without injuring sight.'
How Acquired: Donated by Michael Aitken, honorary archivist
Date Acquired: 1989
Condition: Very good
Location: Nathan Library. Aitken collection

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