seven or eight lines at a glance

'He had developed the curious phenomenon of being able to absorb ideas through reading; his eye took in seven or eight lines at a glance, and his mind took in their meaning at equal speed.'

'Balzac, from Louis Lambert, 1832. As quoted in Optiques: the science of the eye and the birth of modern French fiction by Andrea Goulet, 2006. Amazing . . . this is what happened to me in Amsterdam!