Portable refractor telescope

This is a refracting telescope with a portable stand. It has a mahogany tube with brass fittings as well as a brass draw tube and fittings. There is a small brass refracting telescope (finderscope) at the eyepiece-end of the barrel.

The telescope belonged to Rev. George Fisher (1794-1873) who went to the Arctic as an Astronomer with Captain David Buchan in 'HMS Dorothea' in 1818 and with Captain William Edward Parry in 'HMS Fury' from 1821-1823.

The telescope has a triplet object glass with an aperture of 92mm and a focal length of 1168mm. Engraved on the eye-end of the telescope it reads 'DOLLOND LONDON'. The tube is 1165mm long and has a finderscope and a rack and pinion focuser.

The tripod stand is 1676.4mm in height with an equatorial head. It is made from mahogany with a metal equatorial head that is probably brass. The telescope when mounted is fully adjustable with slow motions and two spirit levels for keeping it level. There are three metal screw on feet which screw onto the metal ends of each tripod leg.

The origional 1395mm long mahogany box survives with this telescope which inclded many accessories inside. These were a terrestrial eyepiece, four astronomical eyepieces, one rotating filter wheel with five coloured filters for improving planetary contrast (one filter is missing the others are green, yellow/ green and two different oranges), a box containing five glass plates and some screws, an eyepiece adaptor (for using smaller diameter eyepieces), three metal screw on feet, a metal end off a tripod leg, a micrometer with box and two eyepieces (no maker name), a micrometer in a wooden box by Simms, London and four eyepieces and one filter, and a micrometer in a wooden box by Banks, 441 Stand, London and three eyepieces and one orange filter. At the bottom of this micrometer box is a piece of paper. On it, written by Revd Fisher and dated 2nd August 1824 are notes as Fisher calculated the size of the micrometer divisions on the sky using the Sun.
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