Original Item: One of a Kind. This is a very nice Victorian Officers telescope, recently acquired as part of a large Optics collection IMA purchased in 2018 in England. This is a THREE DRAW telescope measuring 35 1/2″ when fully extended including its Sun Shade, and just 11 1/2″ when fully compressed. It has an extendable sun shield to the front, and has a lovely leather covering on the barrel. The eyepiece and sunshield both used to have sliding dust covers, but these were removed at some point. The optics are clear, though somewhat dusty, and it functions correctly.
The telescope is marked on the smallest barrel by the eye piece with the owner’s name and regiment:
Lt. Col. F.F. Colvin
9th – L
Apparently Lt. Colonel Colvin was part of “KITCHENER’S FIGHTING SCOUTS” between 1885 and 1890. This instrument may very well have been in Khartoum in 1885, just too late to relieve General Charles Gordon and his command, who were slaughtered just TWO DAYS before the Relief Column arrived.
In great overall condition and ready to use and display!