Joseph Fraunhofer (1787-1826) "represents the highest order of the union of the craftsman and theoretician" (DSB, p. 142). The child of a master glazier, he was apprenticed to a mirror-maker and glass cutter. He bought himself out of the apprenticeship in 1806, and joined the company of Utzschneider, Reichenbach & Liebherr, where "[his] advance in the firm - from journeyman in 1806, to manager of the optical workshop in 1809, to business partner with Utzschneider and director of the glassmaking ... in 1811 - was a reflection of his quick grasp of and original contributions to optical science, practical optical work, and glassmaking" (DSB, p. 142). The DSB continues: "Fraunhofer's scientific studies were intimately related to his professional object: the design and production of the finest possible optical and mechanical instruments. Utilizing the lines in the solar spectrum as bench marks, he determined with unprecedented precision the optical constants of various kinds of glass. The combination of superior optical glass, the theoretical design and calculation of lens systems, the accurate detemination of optical constants, and the use of Newton's rings for testing of lens surfaces enabled the Utzschneider-Fraunhofer shop in Munich to wrest leadership in the production of optical instruments from the London opticians during the first quarter of the century" (p. 144).
The present telescope dates from the years between 1819 when the optical workshop moved to Munich from Benediktbeuern, and Fraunhofer's death in 1826, and employs a 65mm. achromatic doublet object glass, with triple spacers between the crown and the flint glass element, and an astronomical eyepiece using a 55mm. diameter, 2mm. focal length outer eyepiece lens, separated from the 13mm. diameter plano-convex 22mm. focal length inner eyepiece lens by a 5mm. diaphragm, giving a magnification of 100x.