James Vendeland - Brewster Kaleidoscope Society

Collector Directory > James Vendeland

Retired ophthalmologist, collector, author

My Collection

Biography/Collector Statement

Jim Vendeland is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. For 35 years he practiced ophthalmology in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a classical piano music and opera fan, a collector of rare medical eye instruments and 19th century kaleidoscopes, past president of the Ocular Heritage Society and a racket-ball enthusiast. Jim is married and has 3 children, 5 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild. My book An Atlas of Antique Kaleidoscopic Treasures was released in April 2025 and is available from BookBaby.com and Amazon. I have had an article published in November 2025 Beachwood Buzz magazine and an article/interview published in the December 12, 2025 issue of The Antiques and the Arts Weekly magazine.

Why I Collect

It must be in the blood!

Favorite Scope Type

19th century kaleidoscopes

Favorite Part of Collecting

Looking into a scope and seeing the exquisite mandalas that are created!

Favorite Artists

Wiley Jobe, Erik van Cort

Videos Uploaded by Collector

I presented this talk at the Magic Lantern Society Convention held in Cleveland, Ohio on October 20, 2022. The main emphasis of the talk was the history and classification of kaleidoscopes. I also discussed three important figures, Sir David Brewster, Charles Bush, and Cozy Baker, in the development of the kaleidoscope. In Sir David Brewster’s day only one person at a time could use a kaleidoscope. But he predicted that in the future it would be possible for a group of people to see together kaleidoscopic images projected onto a screen. Using a magic lantern projector with a kaleidoscopic lens, I projected beautiful images to the rapt attention of an enthusiastic audience! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqzQW8YqWAM