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Telescope (detail)

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made in England

Postcard of Telescope (detail).
000-190-002-059-C
© National Museums Scotland

Telescope (detail)

This is a detail of the barrel of a refracting telescope. The instrument was made in England in the late 17th century. It is unsigned.

The detail shows the decoration on the barrel, which has been dyed in parts green and red, and stamped with book-binding tools and filled with gold leaf.

Increased interest in 'natural philosophy' (or physics - which included astronomy) and its instruments, was fostered on London by the Royal Society, founded shortly after the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660.


Record details

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Online ID: 000-190-002-059-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1972.77
Date: Late 17th century
Material:
Dimensions:
What: Telescope
Subject: 22. PHYSICS, Light (Departmental Classification)
Who: Smith
Where: ENGLAND
Event:
Description: Smith telescope, unsigned, English, late 17th century
References:
  • Gold tooling on instruments is discussed in Turner, G. L'E., 'Decorative tooling on 17th and 18th century microscopes and telescopes' in Essays on the History of the Microscope, Oxford: 1980 
  • Macdonald, A. & Morrison-Low, A.D. (eds.) A Heavenly Library: Treasures for the Royal Observatory's Crawford Library. Edinburgh, 1994 p 47 
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