An early 20th-century, 5/8in. (1.8cm.), japanned brass, 2-draw pocket refracting telescope, inscribed (scratched into centre draw of telescope) 'To Bert Gilbert/With all good wishes/from/Ernest H. Shackleton/28 11 1907', signed 'SBR' on the eyepiece, leather-covered outer body tube, leather case with drawstring (some minor oxidisation, case worn causing slight loss).

Shackleton took the P & O Liner RMS India from Marseilles through Suez to Australia before joining the Nimrod, arriving in Australia in early December 1907. The inscription on the present telescope dates to the eve of his arrival in Sydney and was presumably a gift or a memento sold to one of the Australian fellow passengers: 'there are some rich Australians on board and I hope before we get to Sydney I may manage to get something out of them.' (letter to Emily quoted in M. and J. Fisher, Shackleton, London, 1957, p.134.)