Catt: I only have wiki as a source, too, re: his own eyesight.
Yeah, what I'm thinking is that if he went totally blind, it might have been cataracts or glaucoma or something, and it might have started very late in life, and he might have had perfectly fine vision before that, i.e. when he started writing his memoirs. (Though as you point out, he might have been prevented from editing in those final years.) But seeing as we have no dates for either, this is all speculation.
Even if your eyesight is reasonably good, it would be natural to hold any book or letter close to read it.
That is an excellent point and just highlights how spoiled a denizen of the modern age I am. ;)
Re: Peter-Michael Hahn
Catt: I only have wiki as a source, too, re: his own eyesight.
Yeah, what I'm thinking is that if he went totally blind, it might have been cataracts or glaucoma or something, and it might have started very late in life, and he might have had perfectly fine vision before that, i.e. when he started writing his memoirs. (Though as you point out, he might have been prevented from editing in those final years.) But seeing as we have no dates for either, this is all speculation.
Even if your eyesight is reasonably good, it would be natural to hold any book or letter close to read it.
That is an excellent point and just highlights how spoiled a denizen of the modern age I am. ;)