THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASSES

The spectacular life of spectacles is the topic of the esoteric, informative and revelatory book. Alluring details describe how the humble pair of glasses might just be one of humanity's greatest inventions, allowing millions to see a world that would otherwise appear a blur. Yet how much do any of us really know about these things perched on the end of our noses? Travis Elborough traces the story of spectacles from their inception as primitive visual aids for monkish scribes right through to today's designer eyewear. We learn how glasses were the making of rock 'n' roller Buddy Holly, helped liberate an exasperated John Lennon from Beatlemania and added to Michael Caine's sexual allure. We see women in glasses through the lenses of crime fiction by Dorothy L. Sayers and Raymond Chandler, and the full-screen figure of Marilyn Monroe. There are encounters with ingenious medieval Italian glassmakers, myopic Renaissance rulers, and spectacle-makers and opticians - brilliant, mad, bad and dangerous - in the Londons of Samuel Pepys, Dr Johnson and Sherlock Holmes. Peering into early theories about how the eye worked, Elborough considers the theological and philosophical arguments about the limits of perception by Greek thinkers, Roman statesmen and Arab scholars. Chapters include Steam-Powered Vision and Working Glass Heroes. The book opens with a Welby Fine Frames Limited trade advert of 1970 with glamorous blondes in heavy rimmed and horn rimmed and bejewelled frames and a Michael Caine lookalike fella in the centre. 341pp, illus.