This print, of the Herschels' 20ft telescope at Feldhausen, Cape of Good Hope, was the frontispiece for John F. W. Herschel's Results of Astronomical Observations Made During the Years 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8 At the Cape of Good Hope, published in 1847. The drawing itself was done by John FW Herschel, probably using his camera lucida (a device used by some artists in the 19th century that uses a prism to project the scene in front of you onto a sheet of paper), it was then engraved by George Henry Ford and printed by the publishers Smith, Elder & Co.

We have three copies in the NMM collection (two within the Herschel collection specifically). Sometimes extra prints of book illustrations were made to sell separately. At other times however, where the book does not appear to have any ready second hand market, book sellers and print dealers have been known to dismantle books just to sell the prints. This print comes from a private collection compiled in the first half of the 20th century, the other comes to us directly from the Herschel family.

Herschel refused government money for the trip preferring to fund the project himself and thereby avoid any obligations over timescales and the publication of his results. The publishers he chose when he was finally ready to print were Smith, Elder & Co who employed his brother-in-law, Peter Stewart as their printer.

Feldhausen was the name of the house John and his wife Margaret bought to live in for the duration of their stay in South Africa. It was just outside Cape Town and housed John, Margaret, their growing family (3 of their 12 children were born before they left England, another 3 were born while they were there), and all their servants. The telescope had been John's father William's favourite telescope while he was still alive, and had been the one restored by William and John together between 1816 and 1820 in part as an exercise in teaching John William's skills as an instrument maker. John however never took up instrument making.