Vol. 1 catalogues spectacles from the collections of Carl Zeiss, Otto Hallauer, and Pierre Marly. Translated from the German by Frederick C. Blodi with an introduction by Wolfgang Pfeiffer, ‘A Short History of Spectacles’ by H. W. Holtmann, ‘A Contribution to the History of Contact Lenses’ by Hans-Walter Roth Ulm. Vol. 2,  titled "The Arts and Spectacles over Five Centuries," illustrates spectacles in important art collections, with accompanying illustrations of spectacles from the collections detailed in vol 1.