Antique & Scientific Instruments U.K.

 

 

ANTIQUE TELESCOPES for sale 

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TELESCOPES on STANDS   

   

 

 A WWI three draw telescope engraved on the first draw tube TEL.SIG. (Mk IV) ALSO G.S., R & J. BECK Ltd., LONDON, 1915 No. 10974, and with the military arrow, on a lightweight floor standing tripod. This telescope has brown leather covered, tapered body tube and ray shade, leather lens cap to the objective and to the eyepiece and comes with both high and low power eyepieces, one fitted to the telescope and the other in a leather pouch and the stand comes in a canvass bag. The stand has a set of extension legs and is engraved 0 to 360 degrees around the horizontal joint, has a clamp screw to the horizontal and a wing not to tighten the vertical joint. The telescope is about 34 inches long when fully open, 11 inches long when closed and stands some 5 ft high. It has a 2 inch diameter objective and is in very good overall condition with original optics and original leather barrel covering although the leather straps have seen better days. - on hold

 

 

HAND HELD TELESCOPES

 

GEORGIAN  (18th - 19th century)

 

A very rare EIGHT DRAW antique telescope, signed on the first draw ADAMS’S New Patent portable Telescope, No. 60 Fleet Str., London” and dates to the end of the 18th century.   The telescope has it’s original leather cover to the barrel, a removable lens cap to the objective and dust slide to the eyepiece. This instrument extends from 5 1/2 inches closed, to nearly 29 inches long when fully opened and has a 1 1/2 inch diameter objective. The optics, as best as I can tell, are all original and in very good condition with a “green tint” achromatic doublet objective and magnifying first draw. The draws are all in good condition with no significant damage and focus smoothly. The leather is intact with slight signs of shrinkage commensurate with its age of around 220 years. A very rare telescope by the world’s best instrument makers of the day.- £850

 

 A long antique decagonal tapered barrel telescope from the late 1700’s, signed on the draw tube by Watkins, London (1747 – 1784).  This very rare single draw “transitional” telescope has a decagonal tapered mahogany barrel, the barrel itself is 36 inches long and tapers from about 2  inches diameter at the objective to 1 3/4 inches diameter at the eyepiece end. Overall the telescope is 37 ½ inches long when the eyetube is pushed fully home and draws out to 44 inches long to focus on objects a few yards away. The 1 ½ inch diameter objective lens looks to me to be the original achromatic doublet in a sealed cell developed by Dollond and Watkins in the mid 18th century and the telescope has dust slides to both the objective and the eyepiece. The non-retained 5 lens eye tube unscrews into sections, for cleaning. The telescope is complete and in fine condition for a 250 year old instrument, focuses clearly, has all original optics (as far as I can tell) and is complete. The only damage I can find is to one of the eye tube lens retaining rings which appears to have been caused whilst some previous owner was trying to remove one of the lenses for cleaning. This is a very fine example of the 18th century decagonal, transitional telescope which gives a good depth of field and wide field of view compared with its contemporaries.  - £995

 

 

A large antique hand held telescope engraved on the draw tube, by Dollond, London. A 2 inch diameter green achromatic objective lens is set into the taper barrelled mahogany body tube, and has a sliding ray shade and removable dust cap. The draw tube is engraved in script, adjacent to the eyepiece, with the makers name. There is a single draw tube, comprising 3 sections to make up the erecting set and the eyepiece set of optics and dust slide to the eyepiece. The telescope extends to 48 in. long in total, from just under 38 inches fully closed. It has some minor scratches on the polished mahogany barrel and plenty of original lacquer on the brass work, consistent with it’s 200 or so years of age and is in fine working order. The lenses are free from any significant flaws and the telescope focuses clearly and smoothly. - £475

 

 

 

 

OTHERS

 

A pair of Antique Brass Galilean field glasses or Binoculars, impressed around each eyepieceTHE LIVERPOOL”.  These type of field glasses were made from the middle of the 1800’s until optical prism technology overtook the simple Galilean optics in the early 20th century. These, all brass, binoculars are in good condition with brown leather covered barrels, and sliding ray shades. The optics are fine and free of any significant scratches, chips or cracks and they focus smoothly giving a clear image. They measure just under 6 inches in length with shades extended and compress down to 4 inches for storage. The main lenses are 2 inches diameter, and the general finish is very good for the age. A fine example of this mid 19th century instrument. - £35

 

An assortment of binoculars, including w.w.1. military, nautical, etc

 

 

LINKS

 

Antique Telescope Society

 

Telescopes page last updated 20/01/2012

 

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