Vintage Stanley London Mahogany and Brass Nautical Spyglass.

Can extend up to three levels for distant viewing. Marked "Stanley London 1586" on the final extension near the eyepiece, indicating the company that made it. 

Condition: Commensurate with use and age. Some rust.

Size: 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 x 11 1/4 in. 

A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to as dioptric telescope). Refractors were the earliest type of optical telescope, with the first record of a refracting telescope appearing in the Netherlands around 1608, when a spectacle maker from Middelburg named Hans Lippershey unsuccessfully tried to patent one. News of the patent spread fast and Galileo Galilei, who happened to be in Venice in 1609, heard of the invention and decided to construct a version of his own, which quickly led to massive astronomical discoveries. The refracting telescope design rapidly gained usage not just among scientists but sailors as well, originally used in spyglasses and developing into the principles found in modern long-focus camera lenses. Galileo’s first telescope had an objective of one element, but by merely a century later two and even three element lenses were made. Over the next several hundred years anchored astronomical telescopes grew to incredible sizes, and remained popular into the second half of the 19th Century, but for most research purposes from the early 20th Century onward the refracting telescope was superseded by the reflecting telescope, which allows significantly larger apertures. A refractor’s magnification is calculated by dividing the focal length of the objective lens by that of the eyepiece. Refracting telescopes typically have a lens at the front, then a long tube, then an eyepiece or instrumentation at the rear, where the telescope view comes to focus. Today most of the technology is still used in optical devices such as binoculars and zoom/telephoto lenses. 

Commensurate with use and age. Some rust.

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