Maker: Blethyn, Theodorus

Year: 1675 c.

Year Range: -

Year Notes:

Manufacturing Location: England

Signature: Theodorus Blethyn, fecit

Signature Notes:

Inscriptions:

No stand present.

Collection: Louwman Collection of Historic Telescopes

Accession #: LC 35

Sources:

Louwman, P.J.K., and Zuidervaart, H.J., "A Certain Instrument to See Far: Four Centuries of Styling the Telescope Illustrated by a Selection of Treasures from the Louwman Collection of Historic Telescopes". Wassenaar, 2009. p. 64. #39.

Louwman, P.J.K., and Zuidervaart, H.J., "A Certain Instrument for Seeing Far: Four Centuries of Styling the Telescope Illustrated by a Selection of Treasures from the Louwman Collection of Historic Telescopes". Wasscnaar, 2013. p.73. #35

Public Notes:

"Very large English telescope (‘reverse tapered’). The main tube has the characteristic English coloured pattern with gold tooling, among which the Royal English coat of arms. No less than eleven pasteboard drawtubes, covered with white parchment. The fittings of the objective lens and the eye lens are made of lignum vitae(pock wood). Length 65-300 cm, Ø 11 cm. Signed with a stamp: ‘Theodorus Blethyn, fecit’. The instrument strongly resembles a telescope in the Science Museum, made by Christopher Cock, which is marked ‘1673’.

The instrument maker Theodorus Blethyn is not mentioned in Clifton’s Directory of British Instrument makers (1995). It is possible that he was a relative of John Bleyghton, who was a mathematical instrument maker, working in London in the period 1624-1654. John Bleyghton was succeeded by his son John II. They signed also with the name ‘Blaton, Blyton and Blighton’. The name is of Welsh origin" (Louwman, and Zuidervaart, 2013).

Length (open): 3000

Length (closed): 650

F-ratio:

Exit pupil:

Object status:

Objective type: singlet

Optical style

Physical style

Functional style

Materials: lignum vitae, parchment, pasteboard, glass, gold tooling

Drawtube data:

Drawtube notes:

Objective Data

Eyepieces

Notes: