Description

The instrument is fashioned from brass components that in general screw together, with assembly being very quick and easy from constituent parts, although as you’ll see in the listing photos it has the distinct advantage of not requiring much in the way of dis-assembly in order to fit into its case.  

Technical details – the construction is a brass circular lead-weighted base to which attaches the gimbaled mirror with upright supporting a rectangular stage and an optical tube with fitted eyepiece lenses.  Focus is via a twist action with thumb-wheel on the upright which moves the stage up and down to achieve focus. 

In terms of its optics, this microscope has a single vintage eyepiece that with good illumination produces an acceptable age-appropriate magnified image.  There’s also an adjustable magnifying lens attached to the tube that’s akin to a small bull’s-eye condenser and is useful for illuminating specimens for inspection by reflected light, which also works quite well.

It’s currently got a single vintage objective lens which screws directly into the optical tube.  The supplied objective is unmarked but looks to be about 10x magnification. There’s also two brass fixed aperture fitments that can be used instead of the objective, as shown in the listing photos, also producing usable images especially for uncovered objects via incident/reflected light.

There’s no technical sub-stage and lighting is via a single-sided concave mirror in a gimbal mount with rotation adjustment and good silvering. 

This interesting compact instrument displays well and having very modest dimensions (standing about 8 inches in height) which in addition to its portability also makes it a good desk-top proposition for occasional use inspecting slides or suitable samples indoors at low to medium magnification.  It also comes with a nice hardwood fitted case with good exterior sheen as shown.  The instrument fits into its case with just the stage requiring to be released from its friction-held fitment to allow the case to be closed.

It’s supplied along with a great selection of six period slides as described below:

1) Tongue of Haliotis (a type of mollusc akin to Abalone) in opaque mount for inspection by reflected light – this slide is professionally prepared by Smith, Beck & Beck and so will date to the period 1857 to 1865 – after this date the company re-named to R & J Beck Ltd.

2)  Antennae of butterfly 

3)  Scales of butterfly

4)  Paper mildew showing mycelium

5)  HSC Biol Slide A

6)  HSC Biol Slide B

Accessories:

– set of tweezers
– nickel spatula

Case dimensions are:  width = 9 inches, height = 3 inches, depth = 4 inches.

Owing to the delicacy of this compact microscope and its accessories/slides, it will be carefully wrapped for shipping and dispatched by insured courier upon receipt of cleared funds.