Captain Hook

I noticed this picture in the Main Library today, and was drawn immediately to the eyepatch. Although my first impression was that the man in the portrait must have been half-former trustee, half-pirate, I checked out eyepatch on Wikipedia. I guess they were more common for non-pirates back before advanced eye surgeries. I always thought that pirates wore them because their other eyes got stabbed out or something gross like that, but it's a practical thing having to do with their eyes adjusting to the light difference above and below deck. Hm.


New learned thing for today: James Joyce occasionally wore an eyepatch even though he didn't need one.