Featured Any info on large old? brass & leather(?) telescope

I found this at my regular thrift store today. And because there were no markings on it the manager told me I could buy it for $10!

So I did - and now I'm hoping this is an old pirate's telescope, and knew if I wanted to find out exactly what I had - I needed to bring it here!

Any thoughts?

20.5" L closed
36.25" L open
2.25" w

Thanks!

 

Here's a close up of front of lens

 

No question about age...it's got plenty.

As you extend it, a little at a time, it should retain a good deal of rigidity. There may be some looseness, but the optical axis should remain very nearly a straight line from eyepiece to objective lens, from fully closed to fully extended. They weren't made to 'telescope' for storage convenience: that's how focus was achieved. When that was built there probably weren't a lot of knock-offs or cheaply made telescopes...Pirates and other seafaring folks all needed a good glass, for the safety of ship & crew...a faulty telescope could cost everything!

 

I suspect this is a surveyors scope?

 

It's only 2-section. I don't know enough to say.

 

I learned a 2 section is called a "1 draw" ( or maybe "One draw") telescope.

Here's a real french one: Antique Telescope French Naval 1 Draw C 1880-1915 | eBay

 

Here's a couple more :

One Draw Telescope Negretti & Zambra c.1860 | eBay

Leather and Brass Telescope One Draw 1893-1898 Elliott Brothers St Martin's Lane | eBay

That's what I have found, Mr. Christian......ahead to Pitcairn!

 

The sections will probably unscrew and there may be a makers stamp hidden underneath somewhere.

 

@Shangas .

 

Great buy! Would have had a slide closure on the eyepiece and a cap to protect the lens on the other. Does the short, brass tube also slide into the leather encased portion? I suspect that the one draw was easier to work on a tripod (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir). I also think that the leather did not wear well at sea and many were twine wrapped after a time. While I believe this telescope to be 18th century, I also believe that it did not spend much time at sea. Are you sure that the covering is leather or is it wood?

 

Front part doesn't go into telescope.
It may be wood - that was my first thought but I figured I was wrong because they wouldn't make one with wood - any way to be sure?
Was it for the sea or a surveying telescope?
Than you all!!

 

The front part was loose and I was able to screw it tight - if I unscrew it there may be the maker's name in there? Is it difficult to put back (will the lens come out?)
Any idea where this was made?
Thank you!

 

The ends of mine look like this one! Even the ridges around front lens! Is mine french circa 1800's?

 

They are usually meant to come apart for maintenance (you need to clean the lenses inside from time to time etc). Most are simple screw and drop in mounts for the glass so easy to do if you have any kind of diy skill. If there are lenses inside then the drawer should also unscrew to allow for maintenance. I don't think it is common for names to be hidden inside, but if it's easy to do so may as well check.

Here's a Cary one I had recently, arrows are where is could be unscrewed:

 

Telescopes were extremely expensive in the 1700s, 1800s, and fake telescopes certainly existed back then (I know, because I have one in my collection. I bought it specifically because it was a fake, to prove to people that just because it's old doesn't mean it's real, but I'm deviating from the point here...)

Anyway...

Age? I'd say early 1800s, late 1700s. The way the eyepiece is put together suggests that sort of timeframe. Also, the sliding "guillotine" lens-shutter (missing) is a common feature on late 1700s and early 1800s telescopes, as is the "bell" shaped eyepiece.

Because telescopes were so expensive, they had to be easy to look after - so yes, they were designed to be pulled apart. Unscrewed, so that you could clean the lenses and blow out dust, etc.

A telescope has a BARREL (the main body) and then it has DRAW TUBES. The draw-tubes are the brass pipes that slide out. One tube = one draw.

Really early telescopes like this usually only had one or two draw-tubes. Later Victorian ones usually had 3-4. I've got a couple which are five or even seven or eight.

Where was it made? That I couldn't tell you. But I can tell you with pretty high certainty that this is at least 200-ish years old. It's Georgian. A Victorian telescope looks very different.

As for materials, I can assure you - yes they would make a telescope out of wood. It's cheaper than brass, after all, and telescopes with wooden barrels were extremely common.

 

Here's a telescope from the late 1700s - early 1800s.



Here you can see the sliding lens-shutters at either end, designed to keep the lenses from damage, rain, dust, etc. Yours likely would've had similar ones. I'm not sure why they stopped making them like this - I think it's kinda cool - but it's a feature that disappeared on later Victorian-era telescopes.

 

Very Well Done! Thanks for quite a bit of first-class education!

 

Thank you - very, very much!