Telescope (Gregorian)
date: label: date made
content: 1744
name: label: maker
content: Short, James
notes: label: Description
content: Small brass reflector mounted on a simple pillar that is attached to a wooden box. There is a short focusing rod and two open sights for sighting distant objects. The aperture is 2 inches, the tube is 9.5 inches long, and the focus is 7 inches. The “JAMES SHORT LONDON J744 37/405 = 7” inscription on the eye-plate indicates that this telescope was made in 1744, it has a 7-inch focus, it was Short’s 405th telescope overall, and it was his 37th telescope of this size. It came to the Museum from the Burndy Library, through Bern Dibner.
label: Description
content: James Short (1710-1768) began making reflecting telescopes while studying at the University of Edinburgh. He was elected F.R.S. in 1836, moved to London in 1738, and made some 1360 telescopes overall. In addition to his skill at figuring and polishing mirrors, his commercial success came from his use of the division of labor (he concentrated on the mirrors and bought the brass parts from others), a growing demand for telescopes, and the support of patrons.
label: Description
content: Ref: D. J. Bryden, <i>James Short and His Telescopes</i> (Edinburgh, 1968).
label: Description
content: Gerard L’E Turner, “James Short, F.R.S., and his Contribution to the Construction of Reflecting Telescopes,” <i>Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London</i> 24 (1969): 91-108.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Burndy Library
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0182.4
label: accession number
content: 2005.0182
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0182.4
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telescope
label: Object Name
content: telescope, reflecting
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 in x 13 1/4 in x 4 1/4 in; 25.4 cm x 33.655 cm x 10.795 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 3/8 in x 13 1/8 in x 4 1/4 in; 23.8125 cm x 33.3375 cm x 10.795 cm