Note from the editor: This article is not intended as an endorsement of this still-controversial therapy. Instead, it is meant to showcase two books in our collection that are of historical interest.

The Bates Method for Good Sight without Glasses is a how-to book offering an alternative medicine approach to bad eyesight. It is a natural method for better eyesight without glasses or lenses as discovered by Dr William H. Bates over 100 years ago. The method is a system of visual techniques such as palming, visual swings, and sways; and principles designed to reawaken the natural function and use of the eyes and mind. Dr Bates found his method could provide relief for such conditions as short sight, long sight, astigmatism, old-age sight, squint, “lazy” eye, and even structural diseases such as macular degeneration. His discoveries were both radical and thought-provoking, and brought much attention from the media and members of the public.

Aldous Huxley in 1911 was struck blind by the disease keratitis punctata and made half-blind in one eye. He would read with eye drops and a magnifying glass until he discovered the Bates Method. After adapting to Bates method, he claimed his eyes improved where he did not need glasses. He later wrote The Art of Seeing in 1943, which chronicled his journey and the method used to improve his eyesight.

You can find both books, The Bates Method for Good Sight without Glasses and The Art of Seeing, here at Faded Page. If you like what we do we hope you will consider volunteering to help us bring more public domain titles like these to Canada. Information about volunteering is available on our companion site, Distributed Proofreaders Canada.