Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

Astronomical telescope from Ross (c. 1860)

A close-up of a telescope

Description automatically generatedA telescope on a stand

Description automatically generatedA brass telescope on a tripod

Description automatically generatedA telescope on a tripod

Description automatically generated

Brass telescope labelled with Ross, London, and the serial number 22459. The instrument should be dated to c. 1860. The tripod base is not the original. Andrew Ross founded his business in 1830 and, like James Smith, collaborated with J.J. Lister, the maker who invented a mathematical method of producing objectives which were both achromatic and aplanatic. Andrew Ross died in 1859 and his son Thomas Ross carried on the business. Thomas Ross died about 1870. The Ross company went on to produce optical products well into the twentieth century. The firm was called Ross & Co between 1837 and 1841, and Ross Limited from 1897.