Better Eyesight Magazine – After Being Out Of Print For 100 Years, Here’s Where To Get It
Better Eyesight Magazine was published from July 1919 to June 1930, by New York ophthalmologist William H. Bates, M.D., the founder of Natural Vision Improvement, an educational method for improving eyesight naturally.
When my eyesight got blurry 30 years ago, I had never heard of the Bates Method, nor of the possibility that my vision might improve. This was before the internet, when I lived in a narrower world of information and belief, where glasses, contacts or surgery were my only answer to my vision problems. Then in 2004, by chance or synchronicity, I met a student of vision educator Thomas R. Quackenbush, and was introduced to the Bates Method of Natural Vision Improvement and to the Better Eyesight Magazine.
Gone are the days of an information black out on improving the eyes naturally. In this post, I provide links to where you can read and listen to the Better Eyesight Magazine. After being out of print for 100 years, here’s where you can now get it.
From July 1919 to June 1930, Dr. William H. Bates published his monthly Better Eyesight Magazine, sharing with the general public his professional observations and expertise regarding improving eyesight naturally without glasses or surgery.
In the words of Bates Method teacher Thomas R. Quackenbush, “Dr. Bates wrote monthly Better Eyesight magazines to extend his educational outreach to the public. These writings contain outstanding elaboration of the Bates Method by Dr.Bates, his longtime assistant, nurse, and later his wife, Emily C. Lierman (Emily A. Bates), and many other Natural Eyesight Improvement teachers, including doctors. These magazines also include detailed case histories and testimonials of improved eyesight.”
Thanks to the efforts of a few vision educators, and their dedication to spreading Dr. Bates’ historical knowledge and information about the Bates Method, all monthly issues of the Better Eyesight Magazine are now available for your reading and listening pleasure and study.
May you receive inspiration from this publication and gain a greater understanding of Dr. Bates’ teachings, so you can apply them successfully to your own vision improvement journey.
Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines Of William H. Bates, edited by Thomas R. Quackenbush
This was my introduction to the Better Eyesight magazines. I love that it’s a real paper and ink book (which I have marked up thoroughly with notes and underlines over the years).
Although heavily edited, with the original formatting and style changed for easier reading, the language modernized to the author’s liking, and some techniques deleted that the author judged to be “no longer used by modern Bates teachers,” all 132 monthly issues are well organized and easy to navigate.
This complete collection includes a bibliography, reproductions of the Snellen Eyechart and Test Cards and an extensive Index.
“One of the most important features of this book is the Index. There were no indexes in the original Better Eyesight magazines. Inclusion of the extensive Index, in conjunction with the Table of Contents, will allow the reader to find topics of interest quickly.” – Thomas R. Quackenbush
Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines Of William H. Bates, edited by Thomas R. Quackenbush, North Atlantic Books, ©2000
The Complete, Unedited Set Of Better Eyesight Magazines (1919-1930), compiled by Esther Joy van der Werf
This E-Book, is a true and unedited copy of all Dr. William H. Bates’ original Better Eyesight magazines. It is in PDF format and easily searchable… super easy! I really like that feature and find in so helpful.
“If you have only ever read the 1920 book ‘Perfect Sight Without Glasses’ you may think that you know the Bates Method. However, the information and case histories in this complete and unedited magazine collection will bring you to a much deeper level of understanding how Dr. Bates worked.
“These 132 magazines reflect Dr. Bates’ own growth and increased skills as he continued to develop his methods of achieving clear vision for his patients during the 10 years following the publication of his book.”
– Esther Joy van der Werf.
A review from an enthusiastic colleague,
“Isn’t one of the joys of computers the ability to look up things so easily?! Now, through Esther’s 7 months worth of painstaking efforts, we can have access to the complete Better Eyesight magazines of William Bates, on the computer! She has taken each monthly magazine, for all 11 years, and created an easy to read, easy to access, unedited full and complete document. All you need is Adobe Acrobat Reader (free!) to read the PDF file (most computers have that program). For example, imagine being able to search on “amblyopia” and see at a glance all of the references to it (in less than 2 seconds it shows me 62 references, with the first one showing, and a sidebar with the others in a clickable shorthand). Fabulous! Thanks Esther for all your hard work!”
– Kate Keilman, Natural Vision Educator, Oahu, Hawaii
The Complete, Unedited Set Of Better Eyesight Magazines (1919-1930), compiled by Esther Joy van der Werf, Visions Of Joy, 2008
(Sadly, since the death of our dear friend and colleague Esther Joy van der Werf, this unedited PDF set of Better Eyesight Magazines is no longer available. If it becomes available in the future I will update the link.)
The Better Eyesight Magazines, as well a comprehensive library of books and articles related to the Bates method have been available online at Central-Fixation.com for 20 years.
This website is a wealth of information on the Bates method. The author of this knowledge-filled site states,
“Here you will find information and resources related to the method of curing imperfect eyesight developed by William H. Bates, M. D.
“The Bates Method is a method to restore eyesight naturally—without the use of glasses, contact lenses, surgery or drugs. Conditions for which people have used the Bates Method, include such things as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, presbyopia, strabismus and amplyopia. People with more serious eye disorders like cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and other, also claim to have benefited from the method.
“If you are concerned about deteriorating eyesight, or if you are tired of wearing glasses or contact lenses, then the Bates Method is something for you. Similarly if you have frequent headaches or muscle pain, or if you are just generally interested in improving your health.
“The Bates Method section of this web site contains introductory information about the method.
“The comprehensive library section of this web site contains several classic books, as well as some medical articles written by Dr. Bates about his method. The library has a nice search facility which allows you to quickly search in the text of one or more of the books.”
Better Eyesight Magazines (1919-1930), online version at CentralFixation.com
Better Eyesight Podcast: A Monthly Podcast That Reads The Better Eyesight Magazine From 100 Years Ago, with co-hosts Nathan Oxenfeld, Esther Joy van der Werf and Friends
“Better Eyesight Podcast is a monthly podcast that reads Dr. William H. Bates’ Better Eyesight magazine from 100 years ago and provides modern commentary on the materials.”
The Better Eyesight Podcast was a brilliant idea of co-hosts and Bates Method teachers Nathan Oxenfeld and Esther Joy van der Werf, to provide an audio version of the original Better Eyesight magazines. Together with their guests of fellow vision educators, they have been reading the original monthly Better Eyesight magazines, month by month, exactly 100 years after each month’s original publication.
They also offer helpful and thought provoking commentary on each reading based on their professional experience.
The Better Eyesight Podcast started in July of 2019, when they kicked it off by reading the July 1919 issue on it’s 100th anniversary.
The Podcast airs the first of each month, and will continue until all monthly issues of the magazine have been read… which will be June 2030.
I was honored to be asked to be a guest reader for the February 1925 issue this February 2025!
Better Eyesight Podcast: A Monthly Podcast That Reads The Better Eyesight Magazine From 100 Years Ago, with Nathan Oxenfeld, Esther Joy van der Werf and Friends
Resources
- Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines Of William H. Bates, edited by Thomas R. Quackenbush, North Atlantic Books, ©2000
- The Complete, Unedited Set Of Better Eyesight Magazines (1919-1930), compiled by Esther Joy van der Werf, Visions Of Joy, 2008
- Better Eyesight Magazines (1919-1930), online version at CentralFixation.com
- Better Eyesight Podcast: A Monthly Podcast That Reads The Better Eyesight Magazine From 100 Years Ago, with Nathan Oxenfeld, Esther Joy van der Werf and Friends
I am a natural vision improvement teacher and coach, massage therapist, yoga teacher and the owner of Relearn To See – Natural Vision Improvement. I take a wellness coaching approach to helping you negotiate life in a more relaxed and natural way that can benefit your eyesight, health and well-being.
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