The History of Spectacles

It’s fair to say that spectacles evolved as opposed to being  invented A lot of variations have been tried

Over time which have led the relatively successful product that we have in modern times. For this reason it is difficult to precisely establish the exact date when spectacles were first used. Around l000Ad Venetian monks are known to have been able to produce “reading stones “and later a framed lens that they could hold in front of their eyes. The Chinese are sometimes given credit for inventing spectacles over 2000 years ago. Marco Polo, who went to China in 1270 claimed to have observed elderly Chinese using spectacles. The key here is that firstly the spectacles must be spectacles, they must be two lenses joined together in some way and held on the face. Secondly they must be used for vision aids, The Chinese are said to have used dark glasses solely for keeping away evil spirits! An interesting twist is that the Chinese themselves credit the invention of spectacles to Arabia in the 11th century!

If the right people had been able to work together, it would probably not have taken them a further 200 hundred years before spectacles were invented in any form the we would recognize today. in 1268 Roger Bacon made the first known scientific commentary on lenses for vision correction. In 1289 in di Popozo wrote: “I am so debilitated by age that without the glasses known ,, spectacles, I would no longer be able to read or write. These have recently been invented for the benefit of poor old people whose sight has become weak”. In  1306 a monk of Pisa delivered a sermon - “it is not yet twenty years since the art of making spectacles, one the most useful arts o earth, was discovered I, myself have seen and conversed with the man who made them first”. This dates the first confirmed invention of spectacles to between 1286 and 1289. Two names are often referred to in connection with the invention of spectacles, these Salvino D’Armate and Alessandro Spina. It is suggested that DArmate was a craftsman and the inventor but that he did not want his invention to be known and that Spina copied the design, although there is no real evidence to conclude this.

In 1352 Tommaso da Modena is thought to be the first to pictorially represent spectacles in his painting of Hugues of Provence. Following this picture, which showed a pair of riveted spectacles, painters often painted spectacles into their pictures - even when the subjects, such as St Peter, were deceased well before spectacles were invented!

At first spectacles would have been made using Quartz, but greater demand meant that higher quality material such as glass was required. Venice and Nuremburg established themselves as centres of excellence at this, Nuremburg even had a style of spectacles eventually named after them!

The problem that first occurred with spectacles was how to attach them to the head. Once that problem has been solved,  the next problem is how to keep them attached The first spectacles had no arms (known as temples) and so various other methods were tried. The earliest spectacles in regular use were made in the 15th and 16th century and consisted of wooden frames which were invented at a pivot at the center, his was the obvious method creating early spectacles as they were in fact derived from two magnifying glasses being joined together. These spectacles were more balanced or held on the nose than anything else! These are the earliest examp1es of pince-nez (spectacles which “pinch the nose”) that a collector can hope to find. Later in the 16th century, frames were made from one piece, that no longer required the rivet, these still pinched the nose but stayed on better! Until the 16th century, spectacles makers were only able to grind convex lenses which would correct the long-sightedness. This was generally good for older people, but was little use for short sighted people. The ability to grind concave lenses enabled them to cater for this group of people. The limitation with spectacle lenses was still that stronger prescriptions could not be made, due to the difficulty in grinding them, but this problem improved with time.

In the 17th and 18th Century spectacles took on another image. They were thought to portray class and intellect. For this reason, many gentlemen bought and wore spectacles for which they had no need! This connection with elitism has continued to some extent to present day. Spectacles in this period had also started to be kept on the nose by passing pieces of silk across the ears. When this change was carried across to the Chinese, they started to add weights to the ends of the silk to increase the effectiveness.

In the 18 Century spectacles gained temples (the side arms), which made them much more like the form we know today They were perfected by Edward Scarlett and this invention rapidly spread across Europe. How ever, instead of ext behind the ear - they had rings at the end which would be pressed against the temples. This kind of spectacle could get extra grip by being Se-; cured under a wig! The Finals (the tips of the temples the rings) underwent several changes as manufacturers decided on ever “better” designs for securing the spectacles. The original ring shape was eventually replaced by the tear drop shape.

In the 1700s spectacles weren’t commonly available in America and were often imported from Europe at con siderable expense and were only for the wealthy. They were normally imported by the basketful, that is a basket of various prescriptions that people could delve through until they found the right ones!

In 1784 Benjamin Franklin had an optician called Sykes, who had a business at the Place du Palais-Royale in France, cut lenses in half and mount two different prescriptions in frames for him so that he didn’t have to keep changing his spectacles every time he wanted to read, he had been wearing spectacles since 1776. In 1784 he admitted that he “could not distinguish a letter even of large print”. By inventing bifocals he managed to save himself precious time! Or, as he put it: “I therefore had formerly two pairs of spectacles, which I shifted occasionally, as in traveling I sometimes read, and often wanted to regard the prospects. Finding this change troublesome, and not always sufficiently ready, I had the glasses cut and a half of each kind associated ; in the same circle By this means, as I wear my own spectacles constant1 1 have only to move my eyes Up or down, as I want to see distinctly far or near, •e proper glasses being always ready.” The only thing that held the two half lenses together vas the frame itself

The 1780s saw yet another change in spectacles that shows how technical they were becoming since their simple start. This was really the biggest time of change for spectacle design. In France they were creating extending temples. that is the arms of the spectacles that could be extended! Like it’s predecessors this could be further secured by tiding them behind the head.

At approximately 1880 - 1930 pince-nez had their come back! Many new mechanisms were invented and patented to “pinch the nose”, and they were the spectacles of class. This can be viewed as similar to the regard for retro styles of today. This was also the period where “invisible” spectacles became extremely popular, These spectacles have no frames, the bridge is directly attached to the lenses. Often this was clipped onto a pocket with a chain and winder mechanism or, in the case of women, with an ornate hair clip. These spectacles enabled you to wear spectacles without them being able to be seen at a distance! In 1884 bifocals underwent another change, the two halves were cemented together. This made them stronger but still had the problem that dirt got stuck at the join. Fused bifocals were later invented in 1908 which helped solve this problem to some extent but this invention was quickly followed by one piece bifocals in 1910.        

Until the 20th century the methods of choosing lenses left much to be desired Normally it would consist of somebody trying on spectacles until they could see! Sellers would often sell door to door. There was much talk about how bad this practice was and how it allowed con-men to convince people they needed something they didn’t, but this is the way it had worked for hundreds of years. At the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th, methodology became better - yet they still had bizarre ideas about what the colors of spectacles did for your eyes!

A summary of the most important changes in spectacles from their original “two joined magnifying glasses” state to their current form is shown on the next page.