Dolland
/ London 45" Leather Barrel Telescope w Queen Anne Brass Folding Tripod Base
What a graphic and commanding looking instrument this is!! Telescopes are
becoming increasingly difficult to find and nice examples like this are a
genuine rarity. Dolland is the most widely known and well respected English maker of telescopes and spyglasses in the 18th & 19th century. The firm was begun in the mid 1700's and the original owner, John Dolland, is credited with the development of the Achromatic Lens which solved problems associated with colors being off in earlier optical telescopes. You can find a much more detailed explanation of that idea / patent and development here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_telescopes. I found one site on the internet having to do with Lewis & Clark, and it mentioned that Thomas Jefferson had a similar telescope by Dolland, and that it made the trip cross-country with that expedition.
The Smithsonian has a short history of the firm and the various Dolland family makers. They have a couple of their instruments, but no telescopes like this on brass Queen Anne tripod bases. Here is a link to that information. If it does not work just paste the address into your top browser window. http://americanhistory2.si.edu/collections/surveying/maker.cfm?makerid=10
The telescope is 45" long without the tailpiece. Overall on the folding brass tripod base this Dolland telescope stands approx 16" tall. This telescope can be used with or without the tailpiece as it is designed to erect the image for use on land or sea. Without the tailpiece the image appears to be inverted as is typical with celestial telescopes even today. There is one eyepiece with a very dark lens and another with a clear lens. There are holes in the box for three lenses so it appears one might be missing.
The leather covering on the telescope barrel is in nice condition noting just a few nicks and dings. The makers name, Dolland / London is marked at the end of the tube on the brass fitting. I could find no info on a time line for dating this from that marking, but other aspects indicate it is from the first quarter of the 19th century.
The telescope is in a fitted mahogany dovetailed box. It has a label from the well known American maker and dealer in surveying and scientific instruments Richard Patten of NY. Patten first opened his shop in 1813 in NY as an importer and dealer in charts, maps, and imported instruments before starting to offer his own line of instruments. He is only lasted in NY until the 1830's, so I assume that this is the period that this telescope dates from, approx 1813 to 1830. Here is the Bio and write-up on Richard Patten that can be found on the Smithsonian site. http://americanhistory2.si.edu/collections/surveying/maker.cfm?makerid=21 If the link does not work just paste the address into your top browser window.
This Dolland Telescope recently came from an old time estate here in the Western states and has been in the same family for as long as they could remember. This telescope is fresh to the market and deserves a place in a top notch collection and to be prominently displayed. It is a wonderful piece of history.
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C-PD-TELE-1
Good . . . . . $2795.00
J. Roach Surface
Gauge I have no provenance
for this nice looking surface guage, but the name is right, and it did come
out of California. It could well be the surface gauge that the early
to mid 19th century surveying instrument maker from California used when
producing some fine instruments when he was set up in San Francisco during
the height of the gold rush days. Note the fine detailing, and
the elongated acorn finial top. A super piece for the California
history / surveying or mining display.
AMN-JRSG
Excellent . . . . . $125.00
J.
Hale Patent 1885 Surveying Instrument / Circumferentor
John Hale was from Scranton PA., the heart of coal mining country on the
east coast in the late 19th century. Mr. Hale had a better idea for
conducting surveys in mining related situations, and was granted a patent in
1885 for that idea. The patent # is 313,494 and it was granted on
March 10th 1885. He simply called it a "Surveying Instrument". This
form of instrument
is commonly referred to as a semi circumferentor and can be used in the
place of a typical magnetic compass in certain situations where a magnetic
instrument would not be as accurate. It took me a while to find the patent the first time
as it looks like he mis-stamped this with a 6 and then corrected it, or his
stamp was worn out, or??. This piece is stamped #25 in several places, and the 5 in that
number is crystal clear, but the 5 or 6 in the patent info is not as clear
and so we have a bit of a mystery here. I believe that is the serial
number, but may be an assembly number. All of that aside, this is a great looking and very interesting surveying instrument. Hale correctly identified the problem associated with conducting surveys using standard magnetic compasses in areas where large ore deposits would affect the results using a magnetic compass. He invented and produced this wonderful looking piece to be used in those areas whit large ore deposits, and also claimed this was an instrument that could be offered at reduced cost and was less complex than other instruments in use. .
This example is almost an exact copy of the patent drawing illustration with the exception of lengthening the sight vane arm and an added level vial (original & good) attached to this lengthened arm that is not shown in the patent drawing or discussed in the patent itself. The semi circle is approx 11" across and the sight vane arm measures a bit over 12"
Note that the knuckle joint is present, and is also stamped with the #25. Mr. Hale must have been making these one at a time to require each piece to be stamped with a number. There is no box.
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PS-HALE-1
Excellent . . . . . . . $1295.00 SOLD!!
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Heliograph
These types of instruments were used for communication and for surveying
long lines or over long distances. Mirrors could be used to communicate
or be sighted on 20-30 miles out in the right conditions. The piece on the left
could be set in front of the mirror on the right and the user could send Morse
code utilizing the shutter set up. There were two mirrors in the event
you needed to direct the light from a different angle, you could use one to
catch then redirect the light. These are unmarked as to maker, in super
condition and probably English. Here is a link to Wikpedia where you can lean more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliograph
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BS-HELIO
Excellent . . . . . . $395.00 / pr. SOLD!
Wayweiser
/ Waywiser
This is a early
form of measuring device used by surveyors, map makers, cartographers, city
planers, engineers and the like. They are an early design and when researching
them on the internet the first thing you read about is Ben Franklin having and
using one. The idea here is that there is a clockwork type mechanism that works off the wheel rotating and records the distance. This one has three ranges I can see. Yards, furlongs and miles. The counter is original, and the top lid is a well done replacement that allows the entire geared works inside to be viewed. I do not see any makers marks on the machine itself or the handles.
It could be French or English, and probably dates from the early 19th century. The wheel construction and spokes look very early. A rare and desirable piece of survey related memorabilia that will display very nicely.
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BS-WISER
Good . . . . . . $495.00 SOLD!
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