Spectacles of Well Known People in History (Part Three)

Curator, David A. Fleishman M.D.

The On-Line Museum and Encyclopedia of Vision Aids.

Over 4,150 images to view

April 6, 2006 Wall Street Journal featured antiquespectacles.com on the front page.

Spectacles of Well Known People in History (Part Three)

We are very fortunate that the personal vision aids of many important individuals have been preserved at institutions and in private collections. Much insight into the development of eyewear during specific time periods can be gained by reviewing examples which have known dates of use. Provenance information associated with the numerous examples presented here is assumed to be mostly correct. It has been difficult to establish in several cases and for some of the others listed, it has not been 100% proven. We have basically tried to confirm that each object and its provenance is believable based at least in part on the known date of death of each person. Hopefully any related information also seems correct. We do know that the more famous the person, the more objects which seem to appear over time following his/her death. We have chosen to believe everything that appears below. Kindly write in if you have questions, concerns, or other knowledge which might be useful in the regard. The advantage of a website is that it is “alive” and can always be updated and corrected. For comparison you are invited to visit “Treasures - Mistaken” where the dates or descriptions unfortunately appear to be false.

Many of the descriptions specifically under the heading “Contributions” have been taken directly from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This is an excellent resource and is very highly recommended for others to use. Included below also are known examples of spectacles used by several American Presidents. The eyewear of these famous individuals will likely appear again on this same website but under a different key heading.

Certainly there must be other examples (out there) of noted leaders or famous people whose lives and accomplishments have impacted mankind during the past five hundred years of history. If you are aware of any examples which might belong on this page, kindly email the website and we will actively pursue any available information as well as the appropriate image. The Vatican Museum does not have any rivet spectacles. But we hope that their curators will eventually appreciate our international educational efforts here. Any discoveries in this realm would be considered world-class treasures and if objects of this nature are ever displayed on their Vatican Museum website we will link to these images in order to present this to our visitors also. Early descriptions of eyeglasses are present when one reviews the literature but the objects listed below have apparently never surfaced.

Finally one additional point must be stated here. In the course of gathering the images and information for this important webpage, a group of 20th century vision aids have also appeared. Although they are NOT antiques in the strict sense of the word, they are still quite interesting to observe and these are presented at the bottom of this listing. A few have quite fascinating stories as you will notice.

NAME	DATES	CONTRIBUTIONS	PHOTO	LOCATION	FEATURES	COMMENTS
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe	1749-1832	German novelist, dramatist, poet, humanist, scientist, philosopher, and for ten years Chief Minister of State at Weimar. He was one of the paramount figures of German literature and European Neo-classicism and Romanticism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.		These exist at the Goethe Museum	Two pair of eyeglasses, his are the scissors-glasses on the left	Described in Clinical Monthly Publication of Eyewear, July 1961, 138, page 885. The pair on the right may be his wife’s.
James Madison	1751-1836	Fourth President of the United States, 1809–1817, he is traditionally regarded as the “Father of the United States Constitution”	Click to see his telescope	James Madison Center		“could possibly be the spyglass listed in the inventory of the estate of James Madison, Sr., in 1802.”
Dolley Madison	1768-1849	Wife of the fourth President		James Madison Museum	Gold, rectangular frame, temple sides
Ezra Ripley	1751-1849	Became the minister of the First Parish in Concord, Massachusetts; step-grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson; cofounder in Concord of America’s first lyceum. Ordained a Trinitarian Calvinist, he became a Unitarian.		Concord Museum holds the eyeglasses and case. The painting hangs in the First Parish Church in Concord.	Oval frame, coin silver, adjustable sides, circa 1820-30	Made by John Pierce of Boston
John McAllister, Sr.	1753-1830	Father of American Opticianry/Optometry		Philadelphia Museum of Art		Actually part of the Berman Foundation
John Thoreau	1754-1801	Grandfather of Henry David Thoreau		Concord History Museum	Nuremburg style with a carved wooden case
Alexander Hamilton	1755-1804	An American politician, statesman, journalist, lawyer, and soldier. One of the United States' most prominent and brilliant early constitutional lawyers, he was an influential delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention and the principal author of the Federalist Papers, which successfully defended the U.S. Constitution to skeptical New Yorkers. He also put the new United States of America onto a sound economic footing as its first and most influential Secretary of the Treasury, establishing the First Bank of the United States, public credit and the foundations for American capitalism and stock and commodity exchanges. Alexander Hamilton died in a duel with fellow politician Aaron Burr.		From an auction site	This red Moroccan leather case was apparently used by Hamilton during the duel with Burr.	This was authenticated by Christies in 1982. But, more importantly, where are the spectacles?Unfortunately the case is being cut up and sold in pieces for display on the wall
Cambaceres	1755-1824	Had a long legal career, and became Second Consul to Napoleon		Private collection	Round frame tortoiseshell, temple sides
John Marshall	1755-1835	Highly influential American statesman, lawyer, legislator and soldier who served as a Virginia Delegate, U.S. Representative, special emissary to France, Secretary of State and, most significantly, as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States (1801-1835). Marshall presided over the Supreme Court of the United States for over three decades and was the principal founder of American constitutional law and the power of judicial review.		On display at the John Marshall House but this has been loaned by a private individual	Round frame tortoiseshell, temple sides	Awaiting permission to show the image
Grand Duke Carl August	1757-1828	"the hunter among kings and king among hunters"- he and his brilliant court first developed a silver-gray breed for hunting in Thueringia's great forests. Weimar was the capitol of Thueringi, a principality in central Germany. Grand Duke Carl August played an important role in breeding and establishing Weimaraners as the special prerogative of the German aristocracy. His interest also coincided with the introduction of firearms to bird hunting		Private Collection	Tortoise shell round frame front with steel sides Sunglasses, temple sides, padded finials, pull-off case
John Brown	1757-1837	A United States lawyer and statesman who was very involved with creating the State of Kentucky. Then became 1st of Kentucky’s two Senators serving 1792-1804		Liberty Hall Historic Site	Oval frame, crank bridge, possibly gold
General John Steele	1758-1827	Revolutionary War hero wounded at Battle of Bradywine Sept 1777. Received a near-mortal wound but finally recovered and then later held a command at the siege of Yorktown. Later he held a seat in the Senate of the state of Pennsylvania. Later became a County Commissioner		Chester County Historical Society	Solid gold oval frame, double hinge, made by McAllister of Philadelphia
James Monroe	1758-1831	Fifth President of the United States, 1817–1825.		James Monroe Museum	Rectangular frame, crank bridge, loop-to-loop adjustable sides.	Although these were passed thru the family, there has been some debate because their style is associated more with the 1840’s and after
Benjamin Chew, Jr.	1758-1844	A gentleman of the old school, meaning that he wore wigs and breeches long after they fell from general fashion		Cliveden, the Chew's summer mansion, built between 1763 and 1767	Gold (probably) round frame wig spectacles with turn-pin sides in the painting of Benjamin Chew, Sr. (1722-1810) Benjamin Chew, Junior's wig spectacles with oval frame, C bridge and turn-pin sides, made by one of the McAllisters.	The father (Sr.) was a lawyer and aristocrat of the upper class of Pennsylvania. His appointed positions included service as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1774), as attorney general, on the Governor's Council, and as Register of Wills.
Albert Gallatin	1761-1849	Secretary of the Treasury 1801-1814, United States Envoy to France 1815-1823		New York Historical Society	Steel, oval frame, turn-pin sides	Probably from right at the end of his life
George Crowninshield, Jr	1766-1817	Member of an important Salem merchant family during the city's Golden Age (post Revolution to just after the War of 1812) and the owner of the America’s first pleasure yacht, Cleopatra's Barge		Peabody Essex Museum on display in the museum’s reconstruction of the Barge's saloon. The barge was a New England icon, built in 1816	Spectacles and a brass case embossed in an Empire style that is 5" long	the ship sank on April 5, 1824, in Hanalei Bay, on the north shore of the island of Kauai.
Duke of Richelieu	1766-1822	Great nephew of the Cardinal Richelieu and also the Premier of France (1815-18 and 1820-21)		Poulet’s book, in the collection of Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen	Gold with jewels, scissors-glasses, circa 1800	Invented the 'indoor'opera, in his palace at Versailles, so that ladies could look at the 'purified' plays, indoors. The instruments were ok for opera, the magnification was rather poor, up to 2.5-3times, just enough for the opera.
John Dalton	1766-1844	British chemist and physicist who became internationally famous for developing the atomic theory of matter. Hence he is known as one of the fathers of modern physical science.		Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, England	Tortoiseshell spectacles circa 1820 – 40. He is shown still wearing silver spectacles with round lenses in the 1842 portrait by James Stephenson.	Early on “Daltonism” became another term for Color Blindness
Andrew Jackson	1767-1845	The seventh President of the United States, 1829-1837, he was one of the founders of the Democratic Party		The Hermitage	Two pair, one is solid gold while the other is silver (damaged sidearm) in a silver case.	It is so unfortunate that his 4 lens spectacles (which appear in so many paintings) has never surfaced
John Quincy Adams	1767-1848	The sixth President of the United States, 1825-1829. The son of President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Smith, he was the only son of a former President to become President himself until George W. Bush took office in 2001.		Adam National Historical Park	Rectangular frame, crank bridge, circa 1840	These were originally attributed to John Adams, the father of John Quincy Adams
Calvin Ammidown	1768-1826	Calvin was a descendant of Roger Ammidown (about 1637), of Salem, MA., who was of French descent, of a class known as Huguenots. Calvin was the son of Caleb Ammidown who distinguished himself in public affairs and who owned land in the east part of Southbridge. He was a relative of Holdridge Ammidown of American Optical Fame.		Worcester Historical Museum	Round silver frame, missing both lenses Engraved name
Napoleon Bonaparte	1769-1821	Emperor of the French. Responsible for many French Revolution reforms as well as conquering most of Europe. He was defeated at Waterloo, and died several years later on the island of Saint Helena.		Located at the Arch di Triumph Museum. Paris. From the Musee de l’Armee, Paris	The telescope was made by JA Chapman, London. Used in the battle of Pyramides 7/21/1798 and given by his surgeon.
Duke of Wellington	1769-1852	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, widely considered one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century. He rose to prominence in the Napoleonic Wars, eventually reaching the rank of Field Marshal. He returned to Europe to command the Anglo-Allied forces at Waterloo, after which Napoleon was permanently exiled at St. Helena. Wellington was victorious over Napoleon and the French at each of six major battles, confirming his place as one of history's greatest generals and strategists. He served as a Tory Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on two separate occasions, and was one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement in 1846.		Private collection	Oval frame, silver, turn pin sides, in a tortoiseshell case, circa 1830’s	He lived at Stratfield Saye House which remained the home of the Dukes of Wellington.