The Early History of the Binocular The invention of the telescope was a sequence of events that cannot be assigned to an exact time or place. There are several written references to telescopic instruments in the centuries before Galileo, but no solid evidence as to their construction and use. However, it is known that the first patent application for a telescope was in October of 1608. Jan Lippershey, an eyeglass maker in what is now Holland, applied for a 30 year patent that would grant him exclusive manufacturing rights. After testing, it was requested that Lippershey produce an instrument that could be used by two eyes. On December 9 of 1608, the inventor announced completion of a binocular instrument. On Dec. 15, the binocular passed inspection and two more, with optics of quartz crystal, were ordered. The patent was denied, based on the argument that the instrument was already known to other parties, but Lippershey was hired as telescope maker to the State of Zeeland. Louis Bell speculates that Lippershey's instrument was likely 3 or 4 power, with an objective of an inch and one half or less in diameter. Henry King, whose History of the Telescope is more authoritative than Bell's work, agrees that Hans Lippershey applied for the patent, and was requested to produce a binocular telescope with optics of quartz, but is mute on whether the instrument was successfully completed. Quartz was known to be more difficult to work, and the request for crystal optics was dictated by the poor quality of optical glass of the era. The early desire for binocular instruments is not surprising to experienced observers of today who are familiar with the problems that monocular instruments present to critical viewing. Lippershey's customers were the very first telescope buyers, and had no experience with viewing through an eyepiece to refer to. It is easy to imagine them peering through a primitive Galilean type eyepiece of poor quality glass, and being overwhelmed with eyestrain and exhausted with fatigue from squinting. That they immediately desired a binocular instrument (without having seen or used one,) is testimony to their imagination and the primacy of binocular perception in human telescopists. Recent Galieo studies disagree concerning his construction of a binocular instrument. Giovanbattista de Nelli, in his 18th century collections of Galileo letters and other works, wrote that in 1618 Galileo constructed a helmet with a twin telescope attachment, to be used on board a ship. There are many references to the helmet in Galileo's writings, including construction, testing, presentation to sponsors and ambassadors, and the development of a gimbaled observer's chair to counteract the motion of the ship. Instrument historian Silvio Bedini summarizes the known documentation and accepts the notion that the helmet was binocular. However, telescope historian Albert van Helden notes an1881 Italian history of "Cannocchiali Binoculari", by Antonio Favoro, in which it is claimed that the helmet had a single telescope. Van Helden believes that Galileo did not use a binocular instrument, and the idea must be regarded as speculative, pending further research. There are many other references to very early binocular telescopes, including: -1613, by Ottavio Pinani, noted by Favoro -1645, Antonius de Rheita, first published claim of invention -1671, Cherubin d'Orleans, La dioptrique oculaire, a landmark in optical history, includes illustrations and details on binocular telescopes. The Museum of Science in Firenze, Italy, exhibited in 1988 a four draw, ornamented cardboard binocular attributed to d'Orleans. -Pietro Patroni of Milan is mentioned by d'Orleans as another maker of binocular telescopes, circa 1700. Patroni seems to have been a prolific maker of telescopes and binoculars, since his instruments still appear at auctions. -1702, Johann Zahn, Oculus artificialis, illustrated what seems to be a hand-held binocular with a very flexible collimation linkage between tubes. -Lorenzo Selva was part of a family of instrument makers in Venice through the 1700s. In his Dialoghi Ottici Teorico-Pratici (1787), many instruments are described and depicted, including telescopes and binoculars. The optical designs of most of these instruments are not recorded. Most would have used Galilean optics, but some might have used a convex eyepiece to allow higher powers. These Keplerian optics would have been useful in an astronomical instrument, and their widespread use in telescopes insures that at some point a binocular telescope was constructed on that principle, despite the difficulties in collimation that result from higher powers. By the nineteenth century, image erecting systems of two spaced lenses were in wide use in terrestrial telescopes, and no doubt some binoculars were made in that way as well. A twin Newtonian was proposed by M. Vallack, and described by John Herschel in The Telescope, published in 1861. Vallack wished to view by reflecting one light path over the open end of the other tube. Herschel devotes 7 pages to the binocular telescope, noting that it has been used for viewing the sun, moon, and planets; "though without any very great practical advantage". Herschel also presages the modern battery commanders stereoscopic rangefinder by describing a stereo-telescope that had been built by A.S. Herschel in 1855, and another described by M. Helmholz in 1859. These instruments are two telescopes, with the objectives spaced prehaps 18" apart, each directed to an eyepiece via mirrors or prisms. The widely spaced objectives give an greatly enhanced sense of depth perception. Many of the instruments described in an early history of the binocular do not now exist, and some never existed. The Lost Binoculars Most Worthy of Recovery would seem to be the Galileans made for the U.S. Naval Observatory during the Civil War. Robert Tolles supplied a small quantity of field glasses, and Henry Fitz and Alvan Clark produced one binocular each. The Clark glass was tested in February of 1865, but the end of the war soon after that indicates that only one instrument was completed. None of these binoculars are currently known to exist. The Clarks made several binocular telescopes in later years, and the revised edition of Artists in Optics, due out in spring of 1996, will include the most up to date information on them. The modern prism binocular began with Ignatio Porro's 1854 Italian patent for a prism erecting system. Throughout the 1860s, Porro worked with Hofmann in Paris to produce monoculars using the same prism configuration used in modern Porro prism binoculars. Other early makers of Porro prism optics were Boulanger (1859,) Emil Busch (1865,) and Nachet (1875). Some of these makers produced prism binoculars. A combination of poor glass and unrefined optical design and production techniques resulted in the failure of all these ventures. These monoculars are all very scarce today, and it is unknown if any of the binoculars survive. The German optical designer Ernst Abbe displayed a prism telescope at the 1873 Vienna Trade Fair. Designed according to Porro's principles, but without knowledge of the earlier work, Abbe's new innovation was to cement the prisms. He then set aside the idea and went on to develop the theoretical basis of the modern microscope. His association with Otto Schott, glassmaker, and Carl Zeiss, instrument maker, resulted in a spectacular series of innovations by the German optical industry. The first high quality modern binoculars were sold in 1894, a product of the optical design of Ernst Abbe and the production techniques of Carl Zeiss. These antiques give very sharp views and are still one of the most attractive binoculars ever made. The documentation on the development of the binocular after this point has survived in much greater quantity, and the long story of the modern history of the binocular belongs in another chapter. Any reference material on the subject is sought by the author, who welcomes correspondence. Peter Abrahams e-mail: telscope@europa.com Bell, Louis; The Telescope. N.Y., McGraw Hill, 1922. pp2-3. King, Henry; The History of the Telescope. London, Charles Griffin, 1955. p31. Bedini, Silvio; The Instruments of Galileo Galilei. Chapter 13 of Galileo, Man of Science, Ernan Mcmullin, ed. Princeton Junction, The Scholar's Bookshelf, 1988 (1967). pp279-280. Van Helden, Albert; The Invention of theTelescope. Philadelphia, The American Philosophical Society, 1977. Transactions of the APA, vol. 67, part 4. pp.20-21. Herschel, John; The Telescope. Edinburgh, Adam & Charles Black, 1861. pp116-122. Warner, Deborah Jean; Alvan Clark & Sons, Artists in Optics. Washington, Smithsonian Press, 1968. p99. Seeger, Hans; Feldstecher: Fernglaser im Wandel der Zeit. Borken, Bresser Optik, 1989. pp29-31.