Over the winter of 1610-11, a magnificent telescope was built in London. It was almost two metres long, cast in silver and covered with gold. This was the first telescope ever produced in such an extraordinary way, worthy of a great king or emperor. Why was it made, what was its political significance and who was it going to? In this talk, Timon Screech explores why the East India Company, which became the world's biggest trading organisation until the 20th century, prepared this special gift to court favour with the Shogun of Japan, how the Japanese viewed Europeans during this time and the impact on England’s maritime rivalry with Portugal and Spain.

His most recent books are
The Shogun’s silver Telescope; God, Art, and Money in the English Quest for Japan, 1600-1625 and
Tokyo before Tokyo; Power and Magic in the Shogun’s City of Edo (both published in 2020).

Speaker:
Professor Timon Screech FBA, Professor of the History of Art, SOAS University of London