Accession No
1221
Brief Description
simple microscope, screw barrel Culpeper type, modified, by William Robertson, Scottish, 1750 (c)
Origin
Scotland; Edinburgh [city attributed]
Maker
Robertson, William
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1750
Latest Date
1750
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass); wood (mahogany); ivory; glass (mirror)
Dimensions
height 266mm; depth 95mm; breadth 95mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Donated by the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford. Possibly from the Crisp collection: lot 142, which was sold to Court (?); probably G. L’E. Turner.
Inscription
“W.R. Fecit”
Description Notes
Brass; pierced turned barrel with mahogany and ivory screw fit lens cell; three part brass and wood sprung stage; slots over turned body tube; focus by brass lead screw with milled head; body tube fitted to a turned mahogany base with condenser set in brass cell beneath, and scrolled casing holding elliptically shaped mirror; the boss sitting on a brass tripod with turned legs and a shaped triangular plate at the feet acting as a brace; plate decorated with a border of punched circles.
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:42824
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