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Spectacles and the Victorians: Measuring, Defining and Shaping Visual Capacity
Paperback
Series: Social Histories of Medicine, Book 47
Sports GeneralGeneral World HistoryBritish History
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ISBN10: 1526194856
ISBN13: 9781526194855
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: Jan 20 2026
Pages: 296
Weight: 0.76
Height: 0.62 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
ISBN13: 9781526194855
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: Jan 20 2026
Pages: 296
Weight: 0.76
Height: 0.62 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
This is the first full-length study of spectacles in the Victorian period. It examines how the Victorians shaped our understanding of functional visual capacity and the concept of 20:20 vision. Demonstrating how this unique assistive device can connect the histories of medicine, technology and disability, it charts how technology has influenced our understanding of sensory perception, both through the diagnostic methods used to measure visual impairment and the utility of spectacles to ameliorate its effects. Taking a material culture approach, the book assesses how the design of spectacles thwarted ophthalmologists' attempts to medicalise their distribution and use, as well as creating a mainstream marketable device on the high street.
1 different editions
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Spectacles and the Victorians: Measuring, Defining and Shaping Visual Capacity
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Almond-Brown, Gemma
Spectacles and the Victorians: Measuring, Defining and Shaping Visual Capacity
Almond-Brown, Gemma
Hardcover
$130.00
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