Description

A good two inch diameter, FOUR draw mahogany barrelled, refracting hand held telescope with a rare and early signature. Manufactured by John Jones and his two sons ( William and Samuel of later renown), it is signed “Jones and Son Fecerunt, Holborn London” and is the only extant example I can find with this signature when the elder son came into the business at their new address on Holborn Street.

Perfect optics (although there is a lens chip outside of the optical plane) with an estimated magnification of 20X. The barrel has two old shrinkage (stress) fractures that have been glued and stabilized. There are two pins missing from the object lens collar but everything is nice and tight (as are the four draws with optical alignment arrows). The machining is early and magnificent with very few knocks. The draws are dent free. The ocular lens is a doublet and retains it’s protective sliding shield. All in all, a rare bird. 42 inches extended, 11 inches collapsed. The object lens is of the typical green, crown glass and is an optical doublet as well. No lens cap.