Accession No
0115
Brief Description
simple microscope, screw barrel type, by Gilbert Wilson, Scottish [attributed], 1770 (c)
Origin
Scotland; Edinburgh [attributed]
Maker
Wilson, Gilbert
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1770
Latest Date
1770
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass, steel); wood; organic (horn); glass (mirror); ivory; cloth (felt, cotton)
Dimensions
box length 165mm; breadth 125mm; height 58mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased by Robert Stewart Whipple from J. Whitaker, Cambridge, on 02/08/1923. The case was repaired in 12/1924.
Inscription
“GILBT. WILSON EDR”
Description Notes
Brass body with threaded condenser tube bearing on a three part horn and brass stage and brass screw; steel plate and screw to scroll type stand with a slot fitting onto a shoe on the lid of the box; swinging plain mirror fits into box lid; six objectives marked 1-5 with 1-4 having ivory dust caps; 3 brass 4 object slides marked ‘1’, ‘4’, ‘5’, compound body fits onto thread on sixth objective. Fitted wooden box lined with felt and glazed cotton;
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:42390
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