Portable telescope

This non-achromatic telescope is made of vellum with turned wooden fittings. The barrel is decorated with tooled motifs as are the collars of the six draw tubes, which are otherwise plain. All the lenses are now missing. Unusually, the eyepiece of this telescope was at the end of the barrel, rather than at the end of the smallest draw tube.

Stop lines drawn onto the tubes indicate the telescope's optimum working length of over two metres. This suggests that it would have been used with some sort of support.

Object Details

ID: NAV1545
Collection: Astronomical and navigational instruments
Type: Portable telescope
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Unknown
Date made: circa 1680
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Length: 620 mm (closed), 2090 mm (open, to stop lines, max); Diameter: 62 mm (barrel), 65 mm (max)
Parts: Portable telescope