The origins of the telescope - DWC - KNAW

Delft 13 and the windows of the Church of Leiden 14 , despite the fact that these cities
are distant from The Hague one-and-a-half, and three-and-a-half hours by road,
respectively.
When the States-[General] heard about these glasses, they asked His Excellency
[Count Maurits] to see them, and he did sent them these, saying that with these
glasses they would see the tricks of the enemy. Spinola too saw them with great astonishment
and said to Prince [Frederick] Hendrik: From now on I can no longer be safe,
for you will see me from afar. To which the prince replied: We shall forbid our men to
shoot at you.
The master [spectacle-] maker of the said glasses was given three hundred guilders,
and was promised more for making others, with the command not to teach the said
art to anyone. This he promised willingly, not wishing that the enemies would be able
to avail themselves of them against us. 15
The last passage of the pamphlet probably is the most interesting, because
this very first account of the telescope already revealed the full potential of the
instrument:
The said glasses are very useful in sieges and similar occasions, for from a mile or
more away one can detect all things as distinctly as if they were very close to us. And
even the stars which ordinarily are invisible to our sight and our eyes, because of their
smallness and the weakness of our sight, can be seen by means of this instrument. 16
The archives of the States General confirm that Lipperhey received 300
guilders for his device. And although on 2 October, he had asked a thousand
guilders for each telescope he made, on 5 October, after an examination of the
instrument by a few deputies of the States General the day before, he settled
for a much lower price. That day Lipperhey received a down payment of 300
guilders, with the promise to receive another 600 guilders when he delivered
three more of these instruments. The conditions stipulated that he would not
make such a device for other parties and he was requested to improve the
13 In fact there were (and still are) two church towers with large clock dials in Delft: one at the
‘Oude Kerk’ (Old Church), finished in 1240, and the other at the ‘Nieuwe Kerk’ (‘New Church),
finished in 1496. Both churches are located in the centre of the city, at a distance of some 10 kilometres
in a straight line from the Maurits Tower in The Hague.
14 In fact there were (and still are) two churches with large windows in Leiden: one at the ‘Hooglandse
Kerk’ and the other at the ‘St Pieters Kerk.’ Both Gothic churches are located in the centre of the
city, at a distance of c. 23 km in a straight line from the Maurits Tower in The Hague.
15 This pamphlet was first published by Drake, The Unsung Journalist (1976) and recently by
Zoomers & Zuidervaart, Embassies (2008).
16 Ibidem.
14
huib j. zuidervaart