Accession No
1844
Brief Description
cabinet of microscope slides, including microphotographs, by John Benjamin Dancer and Edmund Wheeler, English, 2/2 19th Century
Origin
England
Maker
Dancer, John Benjamin Wheeler, Edmund
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1850
Latest Date
1900
Inscription Date
Material
wood (mahogany); metal (brass); ivory; glass
Dimensions
box length 200mm; breadth 194mm; height 157mm
Special Collection
Heywood collection
Provenance
Purchased from the Professor Harold Heywood collection under estate duty exemption benefit with the assistance of a Science Museum grant-in-aid.
Inscription
‘EW’
Description Notes
Cabinet of microscope slides, including microphotographs by Dancer, English, 2/2 19th century.
Mahogany box with inset brass carrying handle; hinged door; 10 drawers with ivory handles numbered 1-10. Selection of glass slides some home mounted and some commercial. One set signed ‘EW’ (Edmund Wheeler); 16 slides. One watch/cover glass and a slide micrometer. One bi-convex lens.
Four microphotographs by JBD (John Benjamin Dancer) in drawer 9:
[numbers identify slides on Dancer’s slide lists]
260 St. Paul’s Cathedral
281 The Crucifixion, Painted by Antionus Van Dyck, Engraved By Petrus of Baillin, 1643
30 The 10 Commandments
239 Imitation of Horace, Swift and Pope
References
Events
Description
Many authors of popular manuals on microscopy saw the microscope as a tool of self-improvement that could enlighten its users. Amateurs were encouraged to observe common specimens at home that would be easily acquired and prepared. Microscopy was a very popular past-time during the nineteenth century. A column in Hardwicke’s Science Gossip regularly published letters from amateurs looking to preserve their specimens. The prescriptive approach in the manuals available instructed amateurs on preparing slide specimens; however, there existed a trade in microscopic slides that proved too challenging for the popular user. These permanent slide specimens were sold as cabinets of microscope slides. This example of a slide cabinet was a luxury purchase. Rather than containing the prescribed slides—as popularized by Rev. G. J. Wood (1827–1889) and W. B. Carpenter (1813–1885)—this slide cabinet holds a variety of specimens ranging from botanical, entomological and mineral. It also has several ‘novelty’ slides such as echinus spines and butterfly scales. Four microphotographs by John Benjamin Dancer (1812–1887), an important provincial instrument maker, and one slide signed by Edmund Wheeler (1808–1881) complete this unusual collection.
08/07/2014
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 08/07/2014
FM:42757
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