Field glasses used by Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, (1854-1856)

Made by Santi, Rue St Ferreol 6, Marseille, France, 1854 (c).

On 21 October 1854, five days after Sidney Herbert, the Secretary at War, wrote asking for her assistance, Florence Nightingale and her party of nurses left London for the East, crossing the Channel to Boulogne and travelling through France to Marseille. From there she sailed on the fast mail boat 'Vectis' to Constantinople, where she arrived on 3 November. The manufacturer's details suggest that she acquired her field glasses - which are made of blackened brass - when in Marseille. They are inscribed 'Miss Nightingale "Vectis" October 1854'.