Resumo

PERALTA RODRIGUEZ, José Roberto. Desarrollo de la óptica oftálmica y uso de anteojos en la ciudad de México durante los siglos XVI-XVIII. Secuencia [online]. 2005, n.62, pp.6-44. ISSN 2395-8464.  https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i62.912.

This article attempts to explain the development of the production of ophthalmic lenses and the use of spectacles in Mexico during the colonial period, a previously unexplored issue. Glass production in New Spain began in the 16th century, while the first lenses were manufactured in 1652 by at least one Spanish master glazier called, "A Master of Spectacles and Other Objects of Glass and Tortoiseshell." These products were commercialized in a specialized shop in 1689 and in the main market. In about 1786, the Graduator of Glass and Spectacles began producing lenses and glasses. Some of the glasses worn during the viceroyalty are assumed to have been made in New Spain, whereas others were legally imported from Europe from 1760 onwards. Since they were expensive, only a small sector of the population was able to afford them. They were mostly worn by persons in the upper government and church levels as well as university professors. It is believed that changes in commercial interests led to a decrease in local glass production, and therefore of spectacles, as well as other manufacturing activities that had achieved a high level of development.

Palavras-chave : Glasses; lenses; graduator of glass and spectacles; ophthalmic optics; glass industry; glaziers; telescope; convex and concave.

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