The history of spectacles

Historical Significance: This booklet publishes a lecture given to the Academy of Science, St Louis. It was first published in The Open Court for April 1907. Most of the illustrations were collected by Dr Emil Boak, an Austrian ophthalmologist and were originally published in a monograph 'Die Brille und ihre Geschichte' Vienna, 1903.The monograph is well written and well informed. It puts aside the question whether glasses were first invented in China or Mongolia, briefly notes the paucity of evidence of the use of glasses or a magnifying lenses before the 13th century. The author notes that Bacon spoke of glasses in 1276 and the author also quotes the sermon given in 1305 in Pisa (?) that alluded to glasses and suggested they were invented 20 years earlier. The illustrations are of considerable interest but date from the 15th century. Of particular interest is the illustration on page 19 which shows 17th century coins that depict spectacles.