on Oct 31, 2015
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| His tory | Between the late 17th to the first half of the 18th century, pocket-sized optical compendia became popular | At their beginning, towards the end of the 17th century, they comprised a small Galilean telescope, often made of a bovine metatarsal bone and sometimes of wood
Items of this kind which were found in archaeological excavations all date to the late 17th to early 18th century, being all Dutch or English
Later into the 18th century, more elaborate variations of this concept were made combining the telescope with a simple microscope
The raw materials seem to have changed from bones to ivory and imported wood (lignum vitae or ebony)
Like the few other instruments of this type known today, it was most likely made of a bovine metatarsal bone
The instrument seen here is 9 cm
long with the diameter of 2.5 cm
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