The Shuckburghs of Shuckburgh, Isaac Fletcher, and the history of the English Mounting
Abstract
This article attempts to document, in three sections, the history of the form of equatorial telescope support known as the English Mounting. This is usually said to have first been successfully applied to a permanently mounted telescope in an instrument made by Jesse Ramsden (1735-1800) for Sir George Shuckburgh-Evelyn (1751-1804), Baronet, of Shuckburgh, Warwickshire. The first part gives the general history of this type of telescope; the second the history of Shuckburgh's famous instrument, and the third that of the fundamental redesign from a fabricated wooden or iron structure to one of cast iron, by Isaac Fletcher (1827-79). The place in astronomical history of these two innovative gentlemen and the current location of their instruments are also recounted. An attempt is also made to reach an improved typology and definition of terms for the English mounting, and a preliminary attempt is made at a listing of all telescopes identifiable as being of this type.
- Publication:
-
The Antiquarian Astronomer
- Pub Date:
- March 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AntAs...7...17H