The most comprehensive history of eyewear ever to be published in English, this bible among fashion aficionados and historians is reissued in an enlarged, updated edition Richard Corson worked extensively in the theater, and his fashion books have long been regarded as definitive works. Available for the first time since the 1980s, this is an indispensable sourcebook for anyone who works in fashion or theater, as well as being a fascinating journey through time for the historian and general reader alike. Beginning with the Italian cardinal who riveted two magnifying lenses together, the story progresses to include spyglasses, opera glasses, and monocles through to the latest extremes in fashionable wear dictated by fashion and desire for social status as much as by optical considerations.