The history of the telescope & the binocular

Peter Abrahams, Portland, Oregon

TELESCOPES

Bibliography of the history of the telescope. 2,556 selected books & papers. --PA...Word doc...Plain text.
Secondary bibliography: telescopes, observatories, instruments, optics, astronomy. 3,730 papers. --PA...Word doc...Plain text.
Abstracts of papers presented at meetings of the Antique Telescope Society. --edited by PA...Word doc...Plain text.

(England)...English telescope makers & designers of the twentieth century. --PA...Word doc...Plain text.
...John Mudge on mirror making, 1777. --PA...Word doc...Plain text.
...H. Dennis Taylor, Optical Designer for T. Cooke & Sons. --PA...Word doc...Plain text.

(France)...Bardou, Brunner, Cassegrain, Cauchoix, Chevalier, Gambey, Gautier, Krauss, Lerebours et Secretan, Mailhat, Vion --PA
...Alexis-Marie Rochon, Jean-Baptiste Grateloup, and the earliest cemented lens --PA

(Germany)...Bamberg / Askania, Busch, Erfle, Ertel, Fritsch, Merz, Reinfelder & Hertel, Repsold, Steinheil, Tremel --PA
...Albert Koenig, lens designer for Carl Zeiss. --PA; Biography by Horst Koehler, 1959, translated by Chris Plicht, 2004.

(Holland)...91 telescope makers from the Netherlands....Word doc. --PA

...Benedictus Spinoza --PA

(Ireland)...27 makers and marks on Irish telescopes --PA
...When an Eye is armed with a Telescope: The Dioptrics of William and Samuel Molyneux. --PA

(Italy)...Guido Horn d'Arturo --PA
...Ignazio Porro --PA...Word doc...Plain text.

(Japan)...The History of the Telescope in Japan: Earliest telescopes. Telescope manufacturers & ATM. Observatories. Cultural aspects. --PA
...Early Japanese telescopes from the Louwman Collection of Historic Telescopes:.....Marked 'Honorable looking glass for far away'--141kb.....Marked 'First months of year of Dragon' (1784 or 1796)--61kb.....Middle telescope by Zenbei Iwahashi--124kb.....Case for telescope by Zenbei Iwahashi-- 65kb.....Unsigned Telescope--130kb.....Case for unsigned telescope--142kb.....A group of telescopes--135kb.....A case for a telescope, unidentified--103kb
Ota Chou, 'Women Observing the Stars' (hoshi wo miru josei), 1936, 273 x 206 cm, paper, Natl. Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. (20 cm refractor at Natl. Science Museum in Ueno) --274kb.....Japanese postage stamp, portion of Ota Chou --112 kb
Two Japanese web pages with a Gregorian telescope by Kunitomo Tobei, 1830:.....Page 1.....Page 2

(Poland)...Historic Telescopes of Poland --PA...Word doc...Plain text.

(U.S.A.)...100 obscure American telescope makers & designers --PA
...Bailey, Bray, Byrne, Carroll, Clacy, Fecker, Ferson, Gardam, Gaertner, Howard, Jaegers, Martz, Petitdidier, Sellew, Spencer, Thomson, Tinsley, Tolles, Usner, Witherspoon --PA
.......The only known Gardam telescope...Image--86 kb...Image 2--55 kb...Image 3--74 kb
...Amasa Holcomb, 1787-1875. First commercial telescope maker in the U.S.
...Henry Fitz, 1808-1863. --PA
...Hamilton Lanphere Smith, 1818-1903. --Various authors
...Binocular telescopes by W.C. Edgecomb, Mystic, Connecticut. --PA.... Image, W.C.E. 50 mm binocular--149 kb

...John Peate... Image of Peate with 62 inch: the largest glass mirror in the world in 1897. --81 kb
...Robert W. Wood --PA
...Notes on U.S. Signal Corps Telescopes, 1860-1865--by David Gaddy

TELESCOPES: Observatories
...The Observatory of Bogota, Colombia, Founded 1803. --PA
........Bogota Observatory, image-1 --60kb....Image-2 --158kb....Emblem --103kb.
...California's First Observatories --PA
...The Telescopes of Lowell Observatory --PA
...The U.S. Naval Academy Observatory --by CDR Paul D. Shankland. (Word doc)
...'First College Observatory in US', Univ. N. Carolina--J. Love. Sidereal Messenger v7, n10, Dec. 1888.
...The Observatory at University of Washington, Seattle --PA....Image, circa 1910--113kb....Equatorial--91kb....Telescope--66kb....Bamberg transit--64kb
...The Mount Stromlo Fires: A Major Heritage Loss For Australian Astronomy. --by Dr. Wayne Orchiston. (Images, text) 721kb.

TELESCOPES: Topics
Telescope Historians....Bell, Couder, Danjon, Helden, King, Osterbrock, Riekher, Willach, Wright. --PA, et al.
...Robert Smith, author of 'A Compleat System of Opticks', 1738. --Various authors
Telescopes for solar research; from Scheiner's Helioscopium to De la Rue's Photoheliograph...Word doc...Plain text. --Harriot, Fabricius, Galileo, Castelli, Scheiner, Hevelius, Hooke, Cotes, Wilson, W. Herschel, J. Herschel, Hodgson, De La Rue. --PA
Early Instruments of Astronomical Spectroscopy --PA.......The Rainband Spectroscope --PA
Spectroscopic observations of the 1874 transit of Venus in monochromatic light. --PA...Word doc...Plain text.
Blade Lapping and Other Historical Methods of Aspherizing an Optical Surface. --PA
Historical Background to Liquid Mirror Telescopes. --PA
Binocular eyepiece adapters for telescopes. --PA
Testing Historic Optics, and the History of Testing Optics --PA
An abridged history of astrophotography --PA
Investigating a telescope by Tulley --PA
The Celestron 4 inch off axis Schmidt Cassegrain --by Jack Eastman
Using a Meridian Circle--Translation of text 'Der Meridiankreis und der Vertikalkreis', by Elis and Bengt Stroemgren, 1933.

ATM: AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING
Albert Ingalls and the Roof Prism Gang...ATMs producing prisms for the U.S. during WW II --PA
The Roof Prism Gang --Scanned & edited articles.
Amateur Telescope Making, Book 1, 2, & 3....List of editions & printings
Amateur Telescope Making in Portland & Beyond --PA
A glass kiln built for fusing large amateur telescope mirrors --PA
'The String Scope'--Tensioned cables as structural elements....Doug Tanaka.... Kim Hyatt
BINOCULARS

A bibliography on the binocular, compiled from the books of Hans Seeger --(Word 6 doc).....In plain text
Another bibliography on the binocular: books, articles, catalogs --(PA)
The Dawn of Binocular Astronomy --By Fred Watson.
The First 300 Years of Binocular Telescopes --(PA)
A brief history of the binocular --(PA)
Monografia sobre los binoculares --por Florencia Torres Queirel (history in Spanish)
Rangefinders and Stereo Telescopes --(PA)
Fungus in optical instruments; treatment and prevention.
No Gunnery Without Glass - Optical Glass Supply & Production Problems in Britain & the USA 1914-1918, by Stephen Sambrook
David Bushnell, notes from an interview in 1999....Word doc...Plain text.
Observing the night sky with binoculars --(from on-line, updated 17 Jan. 2000)
Using & testing binoculars, for amateur astronomers --(PA)
Appraising antique binoculars and telescopes --(PA)

The 'archives' of an e-mail list on the history & use of binoculars .... #1-49..Word doc,..Plain text. .... #50-100..Word doc,..Plain text .... #101-150..Word doc,..Plain text .... #151-200..Word doc,..Plain text .... #201-250..Word doc,..Plain text .... #251-300..Word doc,..Plain text .... #301-350..Word doc,..Plain text

(Canada)...REL and ELCAN

(Germany)...German WWII Military codes for optical instruments --(Word 6 doc, tables)....In plain text
...Geraetnummer: Numbering & abbreviations on German army optics in 1944
...Goerz binocular models --(Excel 5 file)....In plain text --(PA)
...Hensoldt binocular models --(Excel 5 file)....In plain text --(PA)
...Leitz binocular models --(Excel 5 file)....In plain text --(PA)
...Zeiss binocular models --(Excel 5 file; 340 kb)....In plain text
...Zeiss binocular production numbers, 1894-1991 --(Word 6 doc, tables)....In plain text
...Production of Carl Zeiss Binoculars 1894-1908. By Thomas Antoniades. --(Word doc)
...Production of Carl Zeiss Binoculars 1894-1908, Dates and Numbers. By Thomas Antoniades --(Excel file)
...Zeiss post-war binoculars with date of introduction
...Production changes in Zeiss binoculars from 1907 to 1917. By Thomas Mix.
-----Translations from the German: by Ilse Roberts, edited by PA-----

Siegfried Czapski, biography & bibliography
Czapski, About New Kinds of Telescopes, Especially for Handheld Use, part 3
Czapski, About New Kinds of Telescopes, part 4
Czapski, About New Kinds of Telescopes, part 5
Czapski, About New Kinds of Telescopes, part 6
Koehler, A New Telescope Eyepiece with Extremely Large Field of View
......Diagram & Prescription for Koehler's eyepiece --140kb
Koenig, Telescopes and Rangefinders, excerpts
Leinhos, The Judging of Fieldglasses
Lensing, Characteristic marks on the optical apparatus of the Army
Liebmann, �Straight-sighted� Binocular Prism Systems
Schmitz, Textbook of the History of Optics, Supplement 1, The Telescope, excerpts
Schomerus, The History of the Zeiss Works in Jena, excerpts
Schyrlaeus, Oculus Enoch
Von Rohr,The Binocular Instruments

-----Translation of: Hans Seeger. Militaerische Fernglaeser und Fernrohre. Hamburg: Seeger, 1996. (486p. In German & English. Available in the U.S. from Deutsche Optik.) This book is copyright Hans Seeger, all rights reserved. Seeger has granted permission to post the text of this partial translation.
2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3-----2.3.4 - I-----2.3.4 - II, IIIa, IV-----2.5-----2.6-----4 - 4.2.2-----4.3.1, 4.3.3

German military 8 x 60s, excerpts from Seeger..... German military 7 x 50s, excerpts from Seeger..... German military 6 x 30s, excerpts from Seeger

(Japan)...Outline of Japanese binocular production --PA
...JB - JE codes for manufacturers--(plain text)....JB - JE codes--(Excel 5)
...'The List of Binocular Makers' 1959. -Japan Binoculars Export Promotion Co. 203 makers (mostly producing parts), with address, phone, & representative.
... Guide Book of Japanese Optical and Precision Instruments: Japan Optical and Precision Instruments Manufacturers' Association. 1953, 1957/58, 1959/60, 1961/62, 1964-65, 1966-1967, 1973-1974.
......Trademarks of optical manufacturers. 1957, p1...66kb----- 1957, p2...65kb----- 1957, p3...64kb----- 1957, p4...54kb----- 1959, p1...70kb----- 1959, p2...53kb----- 1959, p3...70kb----- 1959, p4...63kb----- 1961, p1...54kb----- 1961, p2...60kb----- 1961, p3...51kb----- 1961, p4...28kb----- 1964, p1...46kb----- 1964, p2...63kb ----- 1964, p3...44kb----- 1966, p1...53kb----- 1966, p2...47kb----- 1966, p3...64kb----- 1966, p4...51kb----- 1973, with addresses...117kb.
......Japan Telescopes Inspection Institute, notice & photo... 1961...93kb----- 1964...92kb----- 1966...68kb----- 1973...62kb.
......1966, describing the LJ mark on instruments...111kb
...A survey form & instructions for an inventory of Japanese made binoculars
...The inventory of Japanese made binoculars found in collections --Excel file
(U.S.A.)...Bausch & Lomb binocular models --(Excel 5 file)....In plain text --(PA)
...Warner & Swasey binoculars --(PA)
...Engineering drawings for the Warner & Swasey Binocular.....1.....2.....3.....4.....5.....6.....7.....8
...US Navy Binoculars: Naval Gun Factory, Offset Wedge, Mk 42, OM Schools
...USN Schedule of Binoculars, 1944 --(Excel 5 file)....In plain text
...US Army Binoculars: historical highlights --PA & others
...US Army binoculars, 1944, Frankford Arsenal
...US military binoculars --(Excel 5 file)
IMAGES---Binoculars

(Japan)...Nikko 200mm binocular --25 & 80x. Cook-Taylor triplet. At Chabot Observatory.
...Early logos on Nikko instruments --32kb
...Fuji Film Company Glass Plant, 1953. Photos provided by David Bushnell�. Glass melting pots --132kb.... Glass pots --127kb.... Glass furnace --114kb.... Furnace --131kb.... Large mass of glass --106kb.... Glass pieces --130kb.... Cut glass blocks --108kb.... Testing cut glass --77kb.... Fabricating lenses --96kb.... Lenses 2 --107kb.... Lenses 3 --95kb.... Cementing lenses --79kb.... Machines --132kb.... Testing lenses --111kb.... Test chart --124kb

...Fuji Photo Optical, subsidiary of Fuji Film, Omiya Japan, May 1953.... Prisms, and prism clusters --137kb.... Inspecting prisms; assembly --127kb.... Inspecting lenses --124kb.... Measuring the focal length of a lens --137kb.... Measuring eccentricity of a lens, and packing 7 x 35's --160kb.... Polishing cover plates, and coating lenses --146kb.... Measuring machined bodies --139kb.... Machining bodies --197kb.... Machining parts --157kb.... Machining parts & anti-corrosion treatment --147kb.... Painting & anodizing binocular parts --104kb.... Binocular bodies --160kb.... Painting bodies; and drilling a cover plate --131kb.... Packing; and testing a Rangemaster Featherlight 7 x 35 --140kb.... Conference at Omiya --60kb.... Meeting with Bushnell at Omiya --120kb.... (left) unknown, Bushnell, Ito - manager FPO, Arai; (right) H. Yamasahi, President of Japan Binoculars Mfg. Assoc. in late 1990s. --95kb.... Dinner --81kb.... Dinner 2 --106kb.... S. Kobayashi, later Chairman Fuji Film --45kb.... Mr. Arai, later repair business in U.S. --36kb.... Bill Levin, Bushnell Co. engineer --45kb....
...Fuji Meibo factory, 1950....Installing prism cluster in binocular --95kb.... Assembling binoculars --117kb.... Lens coating vacuum jar --178kb.... Lens coating rack & vacuum jar --153kb.... Collimation --115kb.... Lens grinding & polishing --83kb.... Polishing a group of lenses --99kb.... Machining barrels --133kb....
...Kowa engineer Narimatsu on right --58kb....
...An unknown factory; one photo shows a Tamron part....Assembling binoculars; building exterior --82k.... Assembly; finished binocular --63kb.... Inspecting, coating, Kanji found in scrapbook --94kb.... Designers --60kb.... Lens grinding & polishing machines --51kb.... Machining metal parts --81kb.... Baseball & Judo teams, 'Tai Sei' --80kb.... A worker --51kb.... Several workers --57kb....

...Bushnell retail outlet, 1950s --57 kb..... Display at Bushnell with David --72 kb..... D.B. with 180 mm --39 kb

(U.K.)....Binocular Gregorian telescope by James Short --158kb......another view --136kb......another view --215kb. Circa 1765. Tubes numbered 275/1307 and 276/1308, focal length 9.5 inches.
...Barr & Stroud Range Estimator --74 kb.... same --61 kb. Operation of this attachment is a mystery.
...Elliot Brothers, London, rangefinder attachment for a binocular.--60kb. British patent 4871 of 1882, by Captain Charles McGuire Bate. Calibrated bar; with a known base line, distance can be derived. Further information on this device is needed.
...Binocular signed by Carston Diederich Ahrens, London, circa 1880s. Ahrens, a prism maker, was granted English patent 1710284, 31 December 1884, for 'Improvements in the construction of erecting binocular prisms'. Courtesy of the Louwman Collection of Historic Telescopes....Image 1 -28kb.... Image 2 -34kb.... Image 3 -52kb.

(U.S.A.).. US Navy rating, late 1860s, sewn on sleeve --38 kb
...USN Mark V, 'B&L;' 7x50
...Mark 21 converted to 15 x 70, only mark is 3554-L, focus at eyepieces & objectives --81kb.... another image --77 kb
... USN Mark 42 Pioneer 7 x 50, 10 degree --130 kb
...Women assembling Mark 43 prism clusters at Square D during WWII. --47kb
...USN offset wedge attachment for WWII 7 x 50 --34kb....label on attachment--58kb. Function is not certain.
...USN Opticalman patches--L to R: OM chief; dark blue 1980s; khaki Chief Petty Officer 1960s. 136 kb

(Germany).G. & S. Merz twin telescope --photography by Peter Louwman, Louwman Collection of Historic Telescopes. 123 kb
...An x-ray of a Hensoldt 8 x 30 Diarex and a Minox T8 Taschen-Teleskop. --88 kb
...An unusual 6 x 42.......another image
...A 12 x 80 marked: blc Rm-F 12x80 fuer Em4mR 40 1941.......12 x 80 markings
...Four advertisements by Ludwig Hohlwein, Munich, 1920s.....Zeiss--606 kb....Busch--740 kb....Ernemann--249 kb....Zeiss-1912--85 kb
...Zeiss 20 - 40 x 200. Made during WWII, restored by Kevin Kuhne.
Descriptions..... 20 - 40 x 200-83 kb..... Optical Flats-58 kb..... Front of housing-77 kb..... Front view-116 kb..... Side view with Kuhne-73 kb..... Lamphouse-81 kb..... Left interior-61 kb..... Magnification knob & name plate (2 images)-86 kb..... Objective lenses-95 kb..... Objectives-64 kb..... Ocular plate-86 kb..... Ocular plate area-130 kb..... Right interior-36 kb..... Side view-66 kb.

(France)...Twin telescope, French made, length 26 inches closed-- 57kb....35 inches fully extended--51kb....Marked only with two styles of stars--27kb....Sold by Queen, Philadephia--25kb....50mm objectives--54kb....Lens slotted & in a cell with a retaining wire, to prevent rotation of the doublet. About 25 power.

Factory in Seoul, Korea, 1960s --202kb.
Monocular --Replica of 1850s Hofmann model, Circa 1890 by Secretan?....Image 2....Image 3....Image 4
Unusual mark found on field glass. Please email if you can ID.....The field glass
Voigtlaender field glass--'The earliest modern Galilean', patent 1823; but not the first -- what was patented? --57 kb
IMAGES---Telescopes

Repsold meridian circle, 6.5" Clark objective, Lick Observatory, 1880s.--594 kb
Two unknown telescopes: top 'Hastings Nebraska', bottom appears Brashear --155 kb

Brown Foundation 9 inch mobile telescope in Twin Falls Idaho, Aug. 1939. --115 kb
Tinsley 5 inch f15 Maksutov-106 kb...weight 18 pounds, near focus 22 feet, Starrett micrometer focuser, vernier setting circles to 5 arcmin, $1450... Engineering drawing-140 kb
A Telescope Man...Detroit Photographic Co. postcard 5693, copyright 1902. --59 kb
Stereo photographs of telescopes & observatories. Scanned Holmes cards, parallel format viewing.
Descriptions..... 4 inch Brashear, circa 1900-89kb..... Brashear mount-127kb..... Clark 23-117kb..... Clark 23 clock drive-121kb..... Clark Equatorial Mount-116kb..... Clark Micrometer-102kb..... Clark Mount, 1884, College of the Pacific-120kb..... DAO model-1-137kb..... DAO model-2-96kb..... DAO model-3-100kb..... Fauth Transit-117kb..... 4 inch Fitz-110kb..... Gaertner-120kb..... Gemini-120kb..... Harvard-113kb..... Ladd Observatory-118kb..... Melton Observatory-133kb..... Mirror Lab-113kb..... 3.5 inch Mogey-129kb..... U. Washington 6 inch Brashear-77kb..... U.W. Brashear / Warner & Swasey-80kb..... Whitin Obs., Wellesley, 12 inch Clark-104kb
IMAGES---Observatories

Strasbourg Observatory --from Meyers Lexicon, Leipzig, 1895. --480kb
Mount Wilson 60 inch & Gene Hancock, night assistant 1947-1978, Bill Miller photo, April 1949. --230kb
Two unknown observatories. Middle image is Lick from W. (postcards) --165 kb
Washburn College, Topeka, KS, Obs. before & after tornado --142 kb
Detroit Observatory at U. Mich. Ann Arbor, 2 old postcards --103 kb....D.O. at U.M, 3 cards --158 kb
--Two unidentified eclipse expeditions: 5 photos of one, 1 photo of another.
3 arrays of telescopes --173 kb
Closeup of telescopes, much detail, 2 inch x 1 in of photo --610 kb
Closeup of telescopes & astronomers, 1 complex mount, 1 in x 1 in of photo --438 kb
Closeup of telescopes & crew, see mask on rear scope, 3 in x 2 in of photo --384 kb
Two trucks, top 'Astronomy', bottom 'Fox Movietone News'....Bottom: one of Charles Greely Abbot's solar constant observing stations --209 kb

ASTRONOMY

Lunar dials, the lunar analemma. --Various authors.
A large collection of poems with astronomical themes
Samuel Butler's "The Elephant in the Moon"
Johannes Honter, Rudimentorum Cosmographicorum, 1573 --53 kb
Fontenelle --image, 315kb...Bernard le Bouyer Fontenelle (1657--1757), Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds, 1686: '...as princes monopolize the earth, it is but fair that astronomers should have the sky for their share, and not suffer princes to intrude on their domain.'

-----photography through the microscope-----

Relic chondrule in Dhurmsala. --4 mm x 2 mm, crossed polars. Amphoterite LL6 ohc, 18% Fe, olivine Fa27. Barred chondrule; also a relic chondrule - partially re-melted and combining 2 structures. Mostly olivine. Surrounding area is a porphyritic chondrule containing the relic, and thus a compound chondrule. 226 kb. --(PA)
Mount St. Helens ash. Dark field. -- ~1/2 mm. Glass shards form as magma moves toward surface, decreased pressure and temperature, molten silica solidifies between grains into threadlike shards. 216 kb. --(PA)
-----stereo radiographs-----
The first four are stereo pairs to view on a standard monitor, smaller files than those following:
Busycon canaliculatum (Channeled Whelk) -- parallel --(jpg image, 48 kb)..... Busycon -- cross-eye --(jpg image, 47 kb)
Epitonium scalare (Precious Wentletrap) --(jpg image, 48 kb)
Tonna sulcosa (Banded Tun) --(jpg image, 64 kb)
Busycon canaliculatum (Channeled Whelk), the pair, 1 --(jpg image, 100 kb)..... Busycon, pair, 2 --(jpg image, 30 kb).....Busycon, pair, red/blue anaglyph --(jpg image, 419 kb)..... Busycon, pair, cross eyed viewing, JPS header --(jps image, 634 kb).....Busycon, left image --(jpg image, 94 kb).....Busycon, right image --(jpg image, 78 kb)
Epitonium scalare (Precious Wentletrap), the pair --(jpg image, 36 kb)..... Epitonium, left image --(jpg image, 77 kb).....Epitonium, right image --(jpg image, 74 kb)
Tonna sulcosa (Banded Tun), the pair --(jpg image, 37 kb).....Tonna, pair, cross eyed, --(jpg image, 109 kb).....Tonna, left image --(jpg image, 98 kb).....Tonna, right image --(jpg image, 88 kb)
-----assorted essays-----
Stereo X-rays of sea shells --(PA)
Translation of Foreign Language Texts --(PA)

Author's Resume
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Mail contact at telscope-at-europa-dot-com or abrahams-dot-peter-at-gmail-dot-com
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Updated 15 June 2009. All texts and images by Peter Abrahams are copyright 2008.
Permission will be granted for non-profit, unedited reprinting of texts by PA. Please link to this page instead of republishing on the web. No permissions are implied regarding texts by Hans Seeger, Thomas Antoniades, Thomas Mix, or other contributors.