Through the Looking Glasses traces the fascinating true story of spectacles: from their inception as primitive visual aids to monkish scribes right through to today’s designer eyewear and the augmented reality of Google Glass. There are encounters with ingenious medieval Italian glassmakers, myopic Renaissance rulers and spectacle-makers, as well as the silent movie star Harold Lloyd, the rock n roller Buddy Holly and the full-screen figure of Marilyn Monroe. This is a book about vision and the need for humanity to see clearly, and where the impulse to improve our eyesight has led us.
Travis Elborough joins us upstairs on 26 April to discuss his brilliant book and sign copies of the new paperback edition out on Abacus Books.
‘A brilliantly enjoyable survey… Elborough brings his own experience as a lifelong myope beautifully to bear on his subject’ Guardian
Travis Elborough 