ACGCST. 1912. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



Clockmakers possess by purchase, gift or bequest, 

 a ver\- \-aluable collection of cl-^cks. watches and 

 other objects relating to their calling. A coat of 

 arms was granted them byClarencieux in 1671, with 

 the motto Tempus Rerum Imperator. The crest of 

 the Clockmakers figures on several of the trade cards 

 of the makers of scientific instruments. One of the 

 supporters originally assigned to the Clockmakers was 

 the " Wild Man,"' whose identity has been the object 

 of much archaeolc^cal research. In the coat now 

 in use he is replaced by a winged figure of Time. 



The Spectaclemakers obtained the benefits of a 

 charter of incorporation two years before the 

 Clockmakers. The great majority,- of those who now 

 belong to it have no actual concern in the calling 

 which it is supposed to protect and foster. The 

 present writer lately acquired from M. Godefroy 

 Mayer, of Paris, a collection of portraits illustrating 

 the evolution of spectacles from the earliest time. 

 The original armorial bearings of the Spectaclemakers 

 have been modernised, but the old motto, "A blessing 

 to the aged."' has been retained. By an act of the 

 Common Council, passed on July Ist, 165S. all makers 

 of sfiectacles were required to take up the freedom. 

 Information as to the early historx- of this interesting 

 guild, which owes a great deal to the support of Lord 

 Bumham and his son, Mr. Harry Lawson, is almost 

 wholly wanting. In 1644. fifteen years after the 

 incorporation of the SpectacIemakeTs' Company, two 

 curious little books were published concerning the 

 art and mystery it protected. The first was entitled 

 " A New Invention : or a paire of Cristall Spectacles. 

 By helpe whereof may be read so small print that 

 what t\venty sheets of paper will hardly contain 

 shall be discovered in one."' By way of frontispiece 

 we have an engTa\-ing of a multiplving gla^ or lens 

 with an eye in the centre. The companion volume 

 is de>..-rihed as "" The S-r-cn-nd P-arr j' -h.-- Sr^t^rTarlf^." 



Ay t^ 



yy> 



It is ob\-ious. however, that this handicrait v, as 

 extensively practised long before 1629. Mr. Hazlitt 



points out that : — ""I"" v ■ - ;• y > • c p- • ^: 



1563, we find the > 









FlGCItE _. 

 Leitter of John JJewtton to iJx. Thicmmit- 



the ri-hf-r Tr- 



ijed to resort to 



res: — 



And further on he speaks of 



^S;?;^ 



>f:-- 



C^U^/^^* ^'^^■^ 



Oiae olf I>oIS'Ond"5 Invsz-oes ina.::r ciii in ilse veax 17^63. 



' 1-d ryes.' 



jade of fine 

 ^ _j^:jy of Carlo 

 ■ netian statesman 

 ". the age of 84 in 

 i41ii. wc arc expressly informed that 

 he never w-r-re artificial aids to his 

 sight, whic'- ■■ er way of sapng 



that such - were then in 



ordinary use :r) iian-." 



The histoHi- of the historic firm of 



removed from its old home in Fleet 

 Street, to 72, Wigmore Street, and Zl . 

 King Street. Covent Gar ; 

 from the early part of the ■ 



centur\-. The fine trade card ui 

 Nathaniel Hill now^ reproduced (see 

 Figure 336) is in the collection of the 

 present writer. A copy of this card in 

 possession of the firm bears the 

 following endorsement on its frame : — 



TWs was given to Frederic Newton. Escv. 

 by William Xenion. Esq., of 66, CL^; rr . 

 Lame, -wb? rer^ved it faxMC his Faib'^r " • -. 

 Newtcr. .- in tbe li-! 



