A Colonial Merchant: The Ledger of William Ramsay

Alexandria, VA 1753-1756

Artifact: Spectacles

Spectacles

Materials: Steel, tortoise shell, and glass

Dimensions: W: 4 3/4"; Diam. of lens: 1"; OH: 1 3/8"

Date: 1750-1775

Origin: England

Collection: Image Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

License: All rights reserved

Ledger Entry: Spectacles

Spectacles

Department: Personal

Customer: Elizabeth Wright

Ledger Page: 104

Imported From:

Product Description

Spectacles were corrective eyewear used to aid vision. Spectacles sold in a shop such as Ramsay's would not be tuned to the eyesight of a specific user but generically use either convex lenses to aid farsightedness or concave lenses to aid nearsightedness. The addition of legs (now called arms) that rested on the ears was a fairly new invention introduced in 1727 by Edward Scarlett.

Citation: "Spectacles." In The Oxford Companion to the Book. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2010.;

Historical Price: 6 pence; Modern USD: $5.6

Product Variations

The databases record four pairs of spectacles purchased. Three pair sold for six pence, while the last was purchased for four pence.