Set of corrective lenses, France, late 19 century (NML Medical Museum, Inv. N. P 202)

Alphonse Giroux (1775-1848) was an art restorer, known also as a maker and seller of luxury furniture. He bequeathed his company to his son in 1838: Alphonse- Gustav Giroux (1809-1886), an optician, expanded the offer by optical instruments including ophthalmoscopes. In 1839, he acquired the first license to produce and sell daguerrotype cameras from the inventor, Louis J. M. Daguerre (1787-1851).

The „small lens set“ (petite boîte) marked „Giroux Paris“ is made of light wood and lined with red velvet. The box contains 72 trial lenses – concave lenses from 0.5 to 9, convex lenses from 0.5 to 6 diopters,  cylindrical lenses for astigmatism and prismatic lenses for correcting phoria, misalignment of eyes – as well as trial frames.