Accession No
1045
Brief Description
simple microscope, screw barrel type; English; circa 1750
Origin
England
Maker
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1750
Latest Date
1750
Inscription Date
Material
ivory; metal (brass, steel); glass; organic (feather)
Dimensions
box length 174mm; breadth 72mm; height 56mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Donated by Robert S. Whipple, 1951. Purchased from the estate of T.H. Court, 1951.
Inscription
Description Notes
Brass body with threaded condenser tube bearing on three-part brass stage with a notch for stage specimen holders; (body has external thread but no compound body is extant); brass ferrule for turned ivory and brass handle; steel spring;
ten objectives, six marked ‘1’-’6’, four marked ‘1’, ‘3’, ‘5’, and ‘6’; ‘4’ and ‘5’ with ivory dust caps; two lieberkuhn lenses, one in an ivory case; one brass lens holder for viewing opaque objects; three condenser stops; an ivory talc and ring box; tweezers; three glass tubes and a brass wire; specimen holder; quill brush; four-object brass slide live box; black shagreen case containing eight four-object ivory slides inscribed ‘1’-’8’.
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:42391
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