Captain Cook's telescope for sale on eBay!

MikeyB (Michael) · #1 17-03-2007, 10:04 AM

The real deal or....??????

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MakeTrack=true

The description says:

This old brass telescope is the original off Captain Cook's "HMS Endeaver", and was taken when she sunk in Fiordland NZ. It has been handed down for generations and been in storage for many decades. It really deserves to be held in a museum, but has been "lost" for a long time. As a boy, I admired and polished this telescope regularly for an old man very dear to my heart, a fifth generation boat builder, and treasure hunter of ship wrecks, before I knew its history. In fact I didn't know it's origins untill well after he died and left it to me. All I knew was it was his most treasured possesion, and when he was dying of cancer, he was torn between leaving me the boat he built for himself, or his telescope. Although he had a beautiful boat, filled with trinkets he had salvaged by diving shipwrecks, I am gratefull that I got the telescope. It has been my pride to own it for more than twenty years now.

The telescope is in orginal condition, with one cracked lense, and many dents from being well used so many years ago. It still has remarkable clarity, and impressive magnification for it's time, as a testamont to its original quality. More than probably, this is the very telescope used by Captain James Cook to sight both New Zealand and Australia for the very first time. Obviously, its cultural significance is huge to both countries. If anyone is prepared to pay what I am asking, the delivery will be negotiated after a deal is struck. This is the real deal, one of a kind, and was lost from the Endeaver when she sank, although it was (obviously) taken with the survivors before abandoning ship. I will be posting some pictures shortly, and also the details of the inscription inside the eye piece.

The bidding starts at $750,000 and you can use your credit card via PayPal. It's conveniently located right here in Perth too - maybe I should ask if I can inspect it before bidding?!

The historians will have a field day debating the likelihood of this being authentic. It's a good story, anyway!

casstony · #2 17-03-2007, 10:30 AM

If the guy would include Captain Cook's mount and tripod I might think about it. Ebay is an amazing place.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #3 17-03-2007, 10:44 AM

I bought Galileo's last week.

Truly! The bloke said that it was real, and that national treasures sold every day on eBay.....

Boy I was lucky!

Dujon · #4 17-03-2007, 11:20 AM

I'll believe it when s/he correctly spells Morse's middle name.

Shawn · #5 17-03-2007, 11:31 AM

Also Cooks ship was not the Endeaver,

.... Endeavor

JethroB76 (Jeff) · #6 17-03-2007, 11:36 AM

Maybe even Endeavour?

GrahamL · #7 17-03-2007, 12:08 PM

Somone should ring the national trust and let them know
the one they were displaying was a fake

.

A quick browse of the web has a few of the early scopes from these voyages very much still around and even in use
Strangely none on e bay though

I came across very old 80 mm mounted refractor in an antique shop a while back yours for $550
preserved spiders inside it free

Rodstar (Rod) · #8 17-03-2007, 12:12 PM

Sounds like a load of codswallop to me. Captain Cook's scope (at least the one that I know about) is safely housed at the National Museum at Canberra. I did a thread about it about 6 months ago after I had seen it. Save your money, folks.

JethroB76 (Jeff) · #9 17-03-2007, 12:40 PM

Damn, just when I'd freed up some cash to have a bid

JohnG (John) · #10 17-03-2007, 12:53 PM

Someone might like to correct me, but the Endeavour sunk in Dusky Sound, Fiordland, was not Cook's, this vessel, a wooden ship was sunk in 1795 and is NZ's oldest wreck.

Please feel free to correct me.

Cheers

JohnG

casstony · #11 17-03-2007, 01:07 PM

Maybe Captain Cook's parrot is still alive. It could sort this mess out for us. And think of the stories it could tell...... probably for sale on ebay soon.

beren · #12 17-03-2007, 01:10 PM

....crikey

If the Endeavour had shipwrecked off New Zealand during its only time in those waters Captain Cook and crew wouldn't have discovered and charted the east coast of Australia {Cooks first voyage 1768-71}

Bobj · #13 17-03-2007, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirDystic

Also Cooks ship was not the Endeaver,

.... Endeavor

It was Endeavour Barque, or HMB Endeavour. Originally "Earl Of Pembroke."
And, it was supposedly used as a prison ship for females on the Thames River, London, after seeing service in North America.

JohnG (John) · #14 17-03-2007, 01:55 PM

HMB Endeavour was eventually renamed the Lord Sandwich and is supposed to be sunk in the waters of Newport Harbour around 1778, the HMS Resolution, another of Cook,s ships is also rumoured to be sunk in Newport Harbour as well.

Cheers

JohnG

shredder · #15 17-03-2007, 02:00 PM

While history is not my strong point, I always thought the Endeavor didnt sink at all with Cook on it. That it lived on and was re-birthed several times (ending up as a cargo / ferry ship) before simply being abandoned somewhere...

I am sure I recall a recent National Geographic (or similar) show on it claiming as much....

As for the scope, for a mear 750K I'll take two of them... oh, forgot this is the original isnt it so there aint another...

DobDobDob (Ron) · #16 17-03-2007, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omaroo

I bought Galileo's last week.

Any chance of borrowing it for a week?

norm · #17 17-03-2007, 03:15 PM

Quote:

and when he was dying of cancer, he was torn between leaving me the boat he built for himself, or his telescope.

Geez, hmmm like its going to make a difference when he's dead.

shredder · #18 17-03-2007, 05:50 PM

Just think, after speding the $750K you still need to negotiate shipping costs. I would have thought for that price he could have personally delivered it by hand....

and if you do it by credit card, as suggested (and have a $750K limit), you can get all those frequent Flier points, should be enough to get there and pick it up yourself!

Still sounds like a bargin to me.

GrahamL · #19 17-03-2007, 06:22 PM

Thats what I remember reading johng
it was sunk with with a dozen or so other ships off newport the hassle was that they knew the wrecks were there but couldn't readilly indentify which was the endeavour.

Bit of history .to keep all you would be bidders off my case so I can get
this bargain on the cheap

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/nav.005001001

edit this was the article as such , wonder if they ever found out for sure
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4994614.stm

Phil · #20 17-03-2007, 07:04 PM

check out view sellers other items. You can get rich if you pay $25US one time fee. and make $4000