Bidspirit auction | L Optique Zograscope Optical Viewing

L Optique Zograscope Optical Viewing Instrument - Rare LOptique Optical Viewing Instrument Zograscope-Type Viewer, with Monticello Correspondence, 19th century or earlier form, wooden optical viewer on turned pedestal stand, having a circular viewing lens/mirror within a square pivoting frame, the frame with fine string inlay and corner inlaid devices, raised on turned supports and a circular molded base. Accompanied by a 1974 letter from James A. Bear, Jr., Curator and Resident Director of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, noting that the instrument is an optique, used for enlarging small print, and that such instruments were made as early as 1745 and as late as 1871. The letter further states that the present example appears somewhat similar to one at Monticello, while noting differences in post and frame details. Also accompanied by Xerox enclosure titled LOptique, showing the device in use to examine paintings or small images under magnification. Devices of this type relate to the 18th-century tradition of viewing vues d?optique or perspective prints through an optical machine or optique. 23.5 in. H x 10 in. W x 10 in. D. Condition: Expected age wear, minor scratches and losses, lens/mirror with surface wear