Chrome - Leather Griffith Astro Telescope 64" with Black Wooden Legs

One of the earliest known mentions of a device that may have become the marine telescope was by 13^th Century by English Philosopher Roger Bacon in his treatise Opus Majus. In his writing, Bacon notes the use of “transparent bodies,” or lenses, placed in such as way so that “we may see (an) object near or at a distance.” During the next hundred years large advances in lenses, made for spectacles, lead to theories about a device that could be used for long distance sighting. A little more than 200 years after the first written account of a possible telescope, in 1589, the Italian scholar Giambattista della Porta wrote about a theoretical device that “can recognize a man several miles away,” using both concave and convex lenses. By 1608 the first true marine telescope patent was applied for in the Netherlands, although it would be the famed physicist and astronomer Galileo who created the first well known telescope. After hearing of the device, Galileo designed one of his own for a 1609 presentation to visiting Venetian senators. With the demonstration a success, and military applications recognized, the marine telescope as we know it was born. Within the next few decades brass telescopes evolved, using different lengths, lenses, and mirrors, until the Scientific Revolution allowed for industrial and mechanical advances far superior. Following these advances, the antique brass telescope telescope became available to many ship’s captains throughout the vast seas, enabling greater navigation and strategic planning, and increasing the safety of sailing.