On the anomalies of accommodation and refraction of the eye with a preliminary essay on physiological optics
 Catalogue Number: 3256 On the anomalies of accommodation and refraction of the eye with a preliminary essay on physiological optics Category: Book Sub-Category: Significant book (Aitken collection) Author: DONDERS, Franz Cornelius. Translated by William Daniel MOORE. Year Of Publication/Manufacture: 1864 Time Period: 19th C Place Of Publication/Manufacture: London Publisher/Manufacturer: New Sydenham Society Description Of Item: Original brown decoratively embossed cloth cover, 225 x 145 mm, with portrait of Donders gold stamped on front and gold stamped with title, author, publisher and date of publication on spine, 635 pages, 175 numbered black and white figures in text Historical Significance: This is one of the most important books in the evolution of optometry. Some knowledge of the refractive errors had emerged during the 18th C and early 19thC but ophthalmologists were not interested. [See Mackenzie 1854 (this collection) who advised bloodletting for presbyopia, or trying some lenses at an optician's shop or retirement to the visually undemanding pastoral pursuits of Australia]. Donders changed that with his essay on "Ametropia and its results" published in 1860 (Cat no 37). This English translation was commissioned by the New Sydenham Society and published 4 years later. Donders (1818 - 1889) was Professor of Physiology and Ophthalmology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Cat Nos 37, 57, 68, 178, 2242, 3250, 3256 are works by Donders held in this collection. How Acquired: Donated by Michael Aitken, honorary archivist Date Acquired: 1889 Condition: Good, Spine repaired and original cloth refitted. Location: Nathan Library. Aitken collection |