Collection:
Louwman Collection of Historic Telescopes
Accession #:
LC 42
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.68.
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". Wassenaar, 2013. p.76.
Public Notes:
"English telescope. The main tube of the telescope is part of the casing, which is completed by two extended end caps. These parts are covered with grey coloured ray skin. The other tubes (among which three drawtubes) are covered with green coloured leather, richly tooled with floral motifs, stars and crescents. The gold tooling used is not mentioned by Turner (1966), but seems to be related to the Turner nos. 44 (flower), no. 47 (crescent with a five pointed star) and no. 51 (flower with leaves). Ivory fittings at both tube ends. Length 22-55 cm, Ø 4 cm. Unsigned, but an almost identical telescope in the British Museum is signed: ‘Howe’.
The maker of this telescope could be Joseph Howe, his son John Howe (I), or his grandson John Howe (II). They were working respectively in the periods 1667-1710; 1703-1733 and 1749-1768. As the telescope is presumably made in the first half of the eighteenth century , the second Howe is the most likely one. An almost identical – also unsigned – telescope is present in the MusEYEum, the collection of the British ‘College of Optometrists’ in London" (Louwman, and Zuidervaart, 2013).
Dioptrice is made possible by the generous
support of the National Science Foundation, the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the Program in the History and
Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame, and the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum.
