perspective glass

English

Noun

perspective glass (plural perspective glasses)

1. A kind of early telescope.
   • 1896, Thomas Nathaniel Orchard, The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost', London, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., page 124:

     The instrument was at first called Galileo's tube; the double eye-glass; the perspective; the trunk; the cylinder.

   • 1906, Herbert Strang, In Clive's Command: A Story of the Fight for India, Illustrated, India: Bobbs-Merrill Company, page 115:

     He mounted, carrying the only perspective glass the vessel possessed. The captain watched him anxiously as he took a long look.

2. (historical) An instrument for viewing an enlarged image of engraved prints or maps [1].