Charles Edwin Inc. - Tools & Instruments
Telescopes & Instruments Catalog

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19th Century English brass desk-top telescope, with original fitted box

Desk-top telescopeThis is a very nicely made telescope of compact proportions, complete and in excellent condition. Barrel diameter is 2.25 inches at the objective lens, and the barrel length is 31.5 inches without the barlow lens, 41 inches with. Three eyepieces are included, each with a different width of field, and also a smoked glass cover for viewing an eclipse. The mount is a swiveling tapered support on a tripod base with cabriole legs, and an adjustable supporting strut. The lacquer finish has been restored, and the original fitted mahogany box - 32" long - is included. There is no maker's name shown.

Circa 1850-1870
$2,900.00
No. 1588



William Harris telescope


Floor-standing telescope by William Harris & Son, London

A very high-quality early 19th century William Harris & Co refracting telescope with a 3½" diameter objective lens. It includes the detailssoriginal mahogany floor-standing tripod, brass table tripod, three eyepieces, original lens caps, and dust covers.

The mahogany case holds everything except the floor tripod. The telescope barrel is signed Harris & Co., 50 Holborn London on the top of the main tube above the star finder. More....

Circa 1825
SOLD
No. 1635



Good quality small desk-top telescope
by Thomas Harris & Son, London

Thomas Harris telescopeThis is a very pretty 19th century brass telescope, all complete, original, and in working order. The original fitted mahogany storage box is only 21" long. The telescope includes a Barlow extension for terrestrial viewing, and two eyepieces of differing field widths. Barrel diameter is 2.25 inches at the objective lens, and the overall length with the Barlow extension fitted is 26 inches. Height is 15 inches.

Thomas Harris, Optical Instrument Maker, worked from about 1780 to the early 19th century, and in 1806 the firm was renamed Thomas Harris & Son. They were Opticians to the Royal Family for much of the 19th century. Harris & Son also made very fine barometers and other scientific instruments. Telescopes are difficult to date in a narrow range, but the style of engraving in the signature indicates that this one probably was made around 1840 to the mid-century.

Circa 1840-1850
$3,250.00
No. 1598


Mid-19th century single-draw telescope by Spencer, Browning & Co., London

This is a large and very good quality telescope by a leading London maker. The case is tapered in its length, and has a two inch Spencer Browning Telescopediameter objective lens with a sliding sun shade and the original lens cap. Thirty seven inches fully opened, 26 inches closed. All optics are original and in perfect condition. The leather cover on the barrel is replaced. The maker's name is engraved on the draw.

Spencer Browning & Company made and sold a wide range of instruments, including barometers, telescopes and surveying equipment. William Spencer and Samuel Browning founded the firm known as Spencer & Browning in 1781, and in 1784 were joined by Ebenezer Rust, at which time the company was renamed Spencer, Browning and Rust. They continued under this name until Rust's death in 1840, then again renaming the firm Spencer Browning & Co., and terminated about 1873.

Circa 1840-1850
SOLD
No. 1481


Early 19th Century English 12 inch diameter
bronze sundial with original patina

This is one of the most beautifully engraved sundials we have offered in recent years. The center carries a fine compass star around the original 50 degree gnomon (south central England), surrounded by eight full bands of information.

From the innermost ring:
1. The eight principal points of the compass
2. The 12 months of the year, the first band of the equation of time tables
3. Days of the month band, with a mark for every day, numbered every ten days and the last day of each month
4. Minutes of correction band, for equating sidereal time with solar time
5. Watch Faster/Watch Slower band, with the summer and winter solstices marked at June 15 and December 24
6. Band reserved for the maker's signature
7. Roman numeral hours-of-the-day band, with an inner sub-band for the quarter hours (with a panel for the engraved dedication)
8. Minutes band, with every minute marked and Arabic numerals every 20 minutes.

 

The maker's signature is John Oclee, Watch-Maker, Ramsgate (Kent). Loomes lists John Oclee as practicing in Ramsgate from at least 1823 to 1827. Pigot's Trade Directory for Kent, 1824, lists James Oclee in Queen Street, Ramsgate. James was a member of the Clockmakers' Company from 1790 and is surely related. The firm was absorbed by Hinds Jewelers, Folkstone, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century.

Further engraving reveals that the sundial was a gift given in the names of the Church Wardens Mr. Geo. Hope, Esq., and Mr. T. Ramonell to their church (unnamed). The dial likely stood in a Kent churchyard for most of its useful life.

Circa 1825
12 Inches diameter
$3600.00
No. 1639


Large 19th Century English boxed scale
with the original set of weights

This is a scale in a very nice original condition, still retaining its original set of cup weights. The steel arm, stand, and pans dismantle for carrying in the drawer of the mahogany box, scales07sand there is a compartment in the drawer for the weights. Such scales were made for commercial use, in everything from selling spices to pigments for paint. The nine brass weights are in Troy ounces, from 30 down to 1/5th.

No maker's name is shown. It is likely to have been made by Avery of Birmingham or a similar firm in the 19th century.

scales-wtss

18.25" wide, 9.25" deep, 4.25" high (box), 24.5" high overall
Second half, 19th century
$1600.00
No. 1638


English mahogany barograph with a vertical circular dial

barog07-closedsAn early 20th century English barograph in very nice condition and full working order, with both the usual drum for the chart and a coordinated circular, silvered dial and pointer. It is in a mahogany case with the original finish and all original glass, and retains its owner's manual. There is a drawer in the case for storing both used and new charts.

barog07-open





14.5 Inches wide, 8.5 inches deep, 8.25 inches high*
First quarter, 20th century
SOLD
No. 1634

17th Century English brass universal equinoctial ring dial

This lovely instrument is a type of sun dial used by travelers, and is capable of telling the time of day in either hemisphere and at any time of year. This particular dial is also engraved with a "nautical" ring of zero to 90 degrees, coupled with a hole for a pin gnomon, for use in finding latitude. Use at sea, however, is actually somewhat limited because the ring needs to be steady to take a reading, not swinging on a rolling ship.

Hanging by the ring, the hanger block is slid around the perimeter to place the [known] latitude, engraved on the face of the outer or meridian ring, at the top. The inner or time ring, engraved on its face with the Roman numeral hours of the day, is then opened to its stops, positioning it at 90 degrees to the outer ring. Next, the bar across the center, which has a table of dates engraved on its face, has its central slider moved to the current date, and is then rotated to align its flat face perpendicular to the inner face of the hours ring, which is marked in two-minute intervals. The small slider bar has a pin-sized hole in it, and when the whole instrument is carefully rotated into line with the direction sunlight is coming from, a point of light shines through the pinhole onto the inner face of the hour ring, allowing time to be told within two minutes of accuracy.

While not signed, components of the instrument and engraving format are identical to exhibit D8597, a dial by Hilkiah Bedford, London (1634-1689), in the collection of the National Maritime Museum at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. There is an old repair to the hanging bracket of this dial.

Many thanks to Hester Higton, author of Sundials: An Illustrated History of Portable Dials for technical data.

Eight inches diameter
Circa 1675-1700
SOLD
No. 1636



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