Object Details
maker
Bardou
Description
Maison Bardou, a firm established in Paris in 1818, was for many years a leading manufacturer of small telescopes for education and recreation. It displayed its wares at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876.
This refracting telescope has a brass tube assembly, an objective lens of 3½ inch aperture and 52 inch focus, and a wooden tripod. The "A. BARDOU PARIS" inscription indicates that it was made between 1878 and 1895. James W. Queen & Co., the leading purveyor of scientific instruments in the United States, offered similar instruments for $175.
Everett Harrington Hurlburt, later to become a professional astronomer and physicist, received this from his father in the early 1920s. He continued to use it throughout his life, particularly for viewing solar eclipses.
Ref: James W. Queen & Co., Astronomical Telescopes (Philadelphia, 1889).
The Telescopes of Bardou & Son (New York, 1911).
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Mrs. Everett Hurlburt
ID Number
1988.0636.01
catalog number
1988.0636.01
accession number
1988.0636
Object Name
telescope, refracting
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
brass (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 9 1/4 in x 5 19/32 in x 54 1/2 in; 23.495 cm x 14.224 cm x 138.43 cm
place made
France: Île-de-France, Paris
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Astronomy
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1183733