Description

This is a rare early polarization instrument. The essential components for polarization, particularly the polarization prism named after William Nicol, had been developed by Edinburgh mineralogists William Nicol (1770-1851) and David Brewster (1781-1861) in the early 19th century. In 1834, the Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) proposed combining Nicol’s prisms with a microscope to observe thin sections of rock. Interestingly, Nicol had suggested this concept a few years earlier. During the same year, Talbot noted remarkable color phenomena that appeared between the crossed Nicol prisms. However, since he was primarily focused on advancing photography, where he is regarded as a key pioneer alongside Louis Daguerre, he did not pursue further research on rocks.

It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that the polarizing microscope became a standard tool in optical mineralogy, also known as petrography. The initial developments took place in Italy and Britain, but the field reached its peak primarily in France and Germany. This advancement was the result of collaborative efforts among specialists from the Collège de France, the École des Mines, and the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, along with skilled instrument builders and the support of Giovanni Battista Amici, the court astronomer of Florence, and later in Germany.

Nicolas Constant Pixii (1776-1861) and his son Antoine-Hippolyte Pixii (1808-1835) were located at 2, rue du Jardinet, Paris from 1818 to 1838, and later from 1838 to 1855 at 18, rue de Grenelle, Saint Germain, Paris.