A Victorian 4 inch refracting telescope The eyepiece signed for John Browning, London The 48 inch leather-covered tube fitted with a 'star-finder' and rack-and-pinion focus adjustment and second telescopic draw to eyepiece end opposing objective with lacquered brass cap, the whole mounted via two pivot bars secured by knurled screws between a pair of shaped brackets applied to a substantial rotating brass post fitted onto a mahogany tripod with hinged tapered wooded open-frame supports, the tube 138cm (54.5ins) long closed; with a mahogany box containing two additional eyepieces, another within an eight-inch extension tube and two filters along with a selection of unrelated accessories. John Browning is recorded in Banfield, Edwin BAROMETER MAKERS & RETAILERS 1660-1900 as working from various addresses in London from 1862 until after 1900; he was 'Optical & Physical Instrument Maker to Her Majesty's Government, The Royal Observatory and Kew Observatory'.