Accession No
0252
Brief Description
simple microscope, screw barrel type; English; circa 1800
Origin
England
Maker
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1800
Latest Date
1800
Inscription Date
Material
Metal (brass); glass (mirror)
Dimensions
length 140mm; max diameter 72mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased by Robert Stewart Whipple from T. H. Court on 22/12/1925. It formerly belonged to the Crisp Collection.
Inscription
Description Notes
Brass; body mounted on tripod stand on solid base; threaded condenser tube bearing on two part brass stage plate; brass spring; single objective; swinging mirror fits onto base;
Botanical;
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:42387
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