Description
The name "Wilson" in Wilson-type screw-barrel microscope refers to James Wilson (1665-1730). It is widely believed in the past that this type of microscope was invented by him. However, it was actually Nicolaas Hartwoeker (1656-1725), a Dutch mathematician and physicist, who first invented it. The mistake was due to the fact that Wilson introduced the type to the Royal Society in 1702, thus the name.

"East Indiaman" refers generally to any ship under the charter or licence of any East India trading companies in Europe between the 17th and the 19th century. East India, an outdated geographic name, refers to today's India, though the many European East India Companies had trade in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, etc. The main purposes of these ships were for trading opium and other goods, such as raw cotton and tea, which were largely cultivated in China, India, and other southern eastern Asian countries. Hartwell was one of these ships, participating the expansion of colonialism for the British Empire through trades, human trafficking, and exploitation.

The ship Hartwell, of British East India Company, embarked its maiden voyage in 1787, and was bound for China. It was a ship full of exotic goods. However, a mutiny broke out halfway, and the course was changed to Cape Verde. The ship hit the reef before arrival and quickly sank.

Between 1788 and 1791, the Braithewaite brothers were hired to recover the silver dollars. Between 1994 and 1996, South African company Afrimar recovered more artefacts and coins, among which was this screw-barrel microscope. A famous Wilson-type screw-barrel microscope is the one made and signed by Edmund Culpeper (active 1700-1737) at the Science Museum (obj. no. 1918-70). However, the object we see here, Wh. 6775, was an unsigned one.
01/02/2023
Created by: Guey-Mei Hsu on 01/02/2023