Accession No

0402

Brief Description

spyglass or prospect glass, by Jesse Ramsden, English, 1782 - 1800 (c)

Origin

England; London

Maker

Ramsden, Jesse

Class

optical

Earliest Date

1782

Latest Date

1800

Inscription Date

Material

metal (silver plate); glass

Dimensions

length closed 95mm; diameter 40mm; diameter of object glass 38mm

Special Collection

Robert Whipple collection

Provenance

Purchased from T.H. Court on 28/09/1928.

Inscription

‘RAMSDEN LONDON’

Description Notes

spyglass/prospect glass, by Jesse Ramsden, 1782 - c. 1800.

Silver-plated body, badly worn. Single draw tube marked for 2 positions. Screw-in eyepiece with 2 alternative power lenses. Selection by sliding pin in eyepiece.

Condition: fair.

[Note on the date: 1782 is the date of J.L. Martin’s patent for drawing tubes of silver-plated copper, a patent to whose cost Ramsden had contributed. He then regularly purchased sheets of silver-plated copper, to make small spyglasses of this type]

References

Events