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DIVINI AND CAMPANI

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Terrestrial telescope

Inv. 2551 V.24 Terrestrial telescope c. 1664 Giuseppe Campani, Rome Cardboard, leather Length 2250 mm

Description Terrestrial telescope consisting of eight cardboard tubes. In the largest, covered in green leather with gold tooling, is contained the biconvex objective lens, 47 mm in diameter. The lens is signed by the maker (Giuseppe Campani) and inserted in a boxwood mounting. The other sections are covered with red marbled paper; some have diaphragms inside. The eighth tube, the smallest, consists of two parts: the first, reversible, contains two biconvex lenses and constitutes the "composite spectacle" of Campani; the size and luminosity of the objects vary depending on which end of the section is placed inside the tube. The second part contains a diaphragm and the sliding eyepiece, whose focal length is 58.4 mm. Depending on the optical configuration chosen, this instrument can enlarge objects 29 or 36 times. It is likely that it is one of the telescopes of 10 palms (corresponding to 2230 mm) made by Campani in the mid-1660s; almost certainly it is the example sent by Campani to Ferdinando II de' Medici in 1664.