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Brass floor astronomical telescope signed Edmund Wheeler London 1870

$11,529.40
£8,773.51
€9,800
CA$16,153.69
A$17,592.58
CHF 9,275.95
MX$213,976.58
NOK 116,644.76
SEK 109,403.25
DKK 74,643.02

About the Item

Astronomical round-section brass ground astronomical telescope with two-extension focusing and rack and pinion, with searcher scope, complete with wooden tripod and wooden case containing the optical part. Signed Edmund Wheeler London mid-19th century. Good condition reinforced brass tube with optics, fully functional. Measures telescope length cm 134 - 52.7 in, focal diameter cm 8 -3.2 in, trestle height cm 163 - 64 in. Edmund Wheleer active in London between 1840 and 1880 was a manufacturer and seller of optical scientific instruments including telescopes and microscopes for which he had built an excellent reputation. In addition to selling instruments, he also held science lectures aimed at the public with the purpose of popularizing science. According to legend, one unspecified day in 1608 the children of Hans Lipperhey, who was an eyeglass maker in Middelburg , were playing in their father's workshop with lenses. When one of the sons put a concave lens next to his own eye, holding a convex lens in his other hand, and reaching out his arm in the direction of the tip of the cathedral bell tower he looked through it, he saw the wind-marking rooster at the top grow larger and closer. Immediately showing the phenomenon to his father, he fixed the lenses on a plank to make observation easier, thus creating the first rudimentary optical approach instrument. Unfortunately for Lipperhey, however, when he submitted a patent application for this instrument to the states general, within days other Dutch eyeglass makers also claimed the invention.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 64 in (162.56 cm)Width: 52.7 in (133.86 cm)Depth: 3.2 in (8.13 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1870
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Milan, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1020247150742

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