last word

The Case for Antique Eyewear

By Erinn Morgan

It is a momentous day for retired ophthalmologist David Fleishman, and he can barely contain his exuberance. He has received a call from a European museum that all but confirms the discovery of a missing but important collection of antique eyewear. As the founder and curator of the not-for-profit www.antiquespectacles.com, an "online museum and encyclopedia of vision aids," these are the moments he revels in.

"I get a lot of calls on collections and findings," says the Boston-suburb-based Fleishman. "I am also a researcher and a detective."

Carpal tunnel syndrome and vision problems forced him to retire six years ago from his position as chief of ophthalmology at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Mass., where he had worked for 28 years. "I had a busy laser surgery practice and I started having trouble holding the instruments. It was my life and it kind of fell apart for six months." Then, he started studying his own eyeglass collection, which he had amassed throughout his life.

"I had always been interested in the history, so I joined a few clubs, read all the past newsletters, and was going to publish a paper on the history of vision aids," he says. "Instead, my son encouraged me to get a website, so I purchased a domain name and put up my paper and photos of my own collection."

That opened the floodgates. Over the past five years, Fleishman's work with museum curators in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to catalog and reference collections have made his website one of today's most comprehensive (and educational) resources available on antique eyewear.

"I've gotten so busy and people seem very interested in it; this website appeals to everyone from curators to common folk," he says. This labor of love is completely funded by Fleishman, who works on the site from 25 to 90 hours a week.

His favorite finding? "The American Optical Heritage Museum has a unique pair of glasses that has six lenses, including side cups," he says. "It was created from two patents in 1782. In all the places I've visited, I have never seen another pair of glasses like those." EB