Name/Title
SpecatclesDescription
The specific origin of spectacles remains unclear, though the first reference to a device for the refraction of light was by the Roman philosopher and statesman Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger (4 B.C.- 65 A.D.) when he said that he had “read all the books in Rome” through a glass globe of water.
The Chinese are generally given credit for the invention of spectacles, though they probably used the lenses to protect themselves from “evil forces” rather than for reading. The use of ground glass for reading probably was invented in Venice at the end of the seventeenth century.
(top) leather Nuremberg spectacles (ca. 1500); (Top left) folding Chinese spectacles of brass and tortoiseshell with forehead rest (ribbons replaced) (ca. 1700), silver horn-rimmed Benjamin Martin type (“Martin’s margins”) with fish skin case (ca. 1770); (bottom) quizzer with case (ca. 1800) and silver folding lorgnette (ca. 1860)
The illustration of the early leather framed glasses is from "Das ist Augendienst" (1583) by Georg BartischCondition
Overall Condition
Very GoodDate Examined
Aug 3, 2026Create Date
August 4, 2026Update Date
August 29, 2026
