John Bryne 4-inch Brass Refracting Telescope

John Bryne 4-inch Brass Refracting Telescope, New York, 1880, with 59 1/2-in. main tube, rack focus single-draw eyepiece, engraved J Bryne New York 1880 , seven additional eyepieces and prism in a velvet-lined and cased box, lens shade, all with original lacquered surface, fitted in original pine case, with associated wood and cast iron tripod, tripod ht. 60 in. Provenance: Family descent from the original owner. Note: The Byrne Telescope was built in 1880 by noted telescope-maker John Byrne. John Byrne started as an apprentice of telescope maker Henry Fitz in 1847 and worked with him until Fitz's death in 1863. He then began making Byrne signed telescopes. Byrne included many innovations in his telescopes, one of which was used by the well-known astronomer Edward Barnard to discover several comets.