Accession No
1794
Brief Description
simple microscope, screw barrel type; English; circa 1775
Origin
England
Maker
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1775
Latest Date
1775
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass, steel); glass
Dimensions
height 189mm; breadth 125mm; depth 123mm
Special Collection
Heywood collection
Provenance
From the Heywood Collection.
Inscription
Description Notes
Brass body with threaded condenser tube bearing on three part brass stage. Steel spring, brass ferrule for attachment by wing nut to scroll stand with three folding feet. Single objective marked ‘6’. Concave mirror (reflector missing).
Condition: fair, substage mirror lacks reflective surface
References
Events
Description
This type of simple microscope, employing only one lens, was first described in 1702, by James Wilson in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The design was in fact the work of the Dutch microscopist Nicolaas Hartsoeker.
The essential feature of the design is the threaded cylinder, carrying a condensing lens, which screws in and out of the body. The microscope is hand-held, and the slide is inserted at one end — the whole instrument is then pointed towards a light source.
Large numbers of these microscopes were made, and they proved extremely popular. This was in part due to the recommendation of John Harris, in his 1704 book Lexicon Technicum, in which he wrote that “of all microscopes I have ever seen for commodiousness, various uses, portability and cheapness, I never met with anything like Mr. Wilson’s Glasses.”
26/02/2008
Created by: Boris Jardine, with text from Olivia Brown’s Catalogue 7 on 26/02/2008
FM:41397
Images (Click to view full size):
