Renaissance Vision from Spectacles to Telescopes

Vincent Ilardi concentrates on the history of the use and manufacture of spectacles, emphasizing fifteenth-century Italy while also treating spectacle-making activities and optical devices in other areas of Europe. Based on extensive and rigorous study of archival sources, Ilardi’s book is notable in that he was assisted in his research through long-term collaborative efforts with scholars who generously shared references to spectacles that would have been otherwise overlooked. Ilardi’s analysis shows that spectacle manufacture was carried out by artisans working in both mercantile and monastic contexts, and that these activities were part of the rich commercial economy of fifteenth-century Italy