Culpeper-type compound microscope
Datecirca 1750
Inventory Number1049
ClassificationMicroscope
Subject
Maker
English
User
Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke
1728 - 1829
User
Jean Paul Mascarene
?
1684 - 1760
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Place of Use
Dimensions42 x 17 x 17 cm (16 9/16 x 6 11/16 x 6 11/16 in.)
case: 46.5 x 19.5 x 20 cm (18 5/16 x 7 11/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
case: 46.5 x 19.5 x 20 cm (18 5/16 x 7 11/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Material
Accessories5 objectives; fish plate; hand magnifier; diffusor; cone; stage forceps; 4 ivory slides; 1 glass slide; ivory box with mica covers and wire rings; spring stage for slides; pyramidal box.
DescriptionThis Culpeper-type compound microscope is very similar in its design to those by Matthew Loft (CHSI inv. 1181, 1182), having the same bent legs holding up a notched stage and similar substage mirror. The biggest differences are in the materials used for the microscope optical assembly. Here they are all of brass, whereas on the Loft instruments they are lignum vitae, vellum, and shagreen. The base of this instrument is a square box with a drawer, whereas the Loft items are octagonal.
The pyramidal case is made of oak.
The pyramidal case is made of oak.
Signedunsigned
Provenanceperhaps Jean Paul Mascarene, pre-1760; Edward Augustus Holyoke, post 1760; ... ; Andrew Nichols (1890-circa 1944) of Danvers, Mass., a descendent of Holyoke; on permanent loan and later transfer from the estate of Andrew Nichols to the Ernst-Lewis Collection at Harvard Medical School, courtesy of Miss Mary E. Nichols, 1944.
Historical AttributesThis microscope was owned and used by Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke, a pioneer in the treatment of small pox, founding member and president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and son of President Edward Holyoke.
Dr. Lewis speculated that this microscope may have been one previously owned by Major General Jean Paul Mascarene (1684-1760), the former governor of Nova Scotia, who spent his latter years in Boston. Mascarene's son married President Holyoke's daughter (the sister of Dr. Holyoke), and there was a social connection between the families as well as a shared enthusiasm for science. Mascarene's effects were auctioned off in Boston. The advertisement printed in the Boston Gazette of 9 June 1760 listed "a genteel-made new invented microscope with its proper apparatus." Perhaps the Holyoke family acquired the instrument by purchase or by inheritance at this time.
Edmund Culpeper
Date: circa 1730
Accessories: frog (fish) plate; 3 long bone slides; 1 short ivory slide; a slide holder; 4 objectives; watch glass; diverse glasses; ivory box with mica covers and wire rings; dark plate; chamois
Object number: 1048
English
Date: 1735-1745
Accessories: 5 objectives; 3 ivory slides; 1 brass slide; 2 rough pieces of glass; 2 stage forceps and pins; black / white disk in ebony with ivory inset; spring stage; live box.
Object number: 2002-1-0054
Matthew Loft
Date: 1730-1747
Accessories: ocular (1); objectives (6); fish plate; substage cone diaphragm; round spring slide holder; stage forceps; bull's eye condenser; wet specimen glass cup; rotating slide speciment holder with black and white disks; small black and white disks as bead on cord; brass spring; spare collar from an ocular; pyramidal box.
Object number: 1242
Matthew Loft
Date: 1730-1747
Accessories: 5 Objectives:1, 2, 3, 4, 5; round specimen carrier with eight preparations plus black and white discs; fish plate; stage forceps; live box; ivory box for cover glasses; cone diaphragm; pyramidal case.
Object number: 1180
Matthew Loft
Date: 1730-1747
Accessories: objective (5); spring slide holder; circular carrier (10 objects); stage forceps; cone diaphragm; ivory slider (2); round glass disc; brass ring; ivory box of covers; frog plate; key for case
Object number: 1181
Charles Lincoln
Date: 1770-1775
Accessories: 5 objectives; 1 Lieberkühn; 1 cone; tadpole glasses and wire; 6 ivory slides; mica covers and wire rings; stage bull's eye magnifier; 2 hand magnifiers; spring slide holder; fish plate; instruction booklet; fold out plate (glued to cardstock); list of objects on slides.
Object number: 1047
John Marshall
Date: 1690-1700
Accessories: objective (5); lens, glass bowl, ivory box (3) containing talc; graduated cylinder; ruler; ivory objective; tweezers; fish-plate tweezers; ivory spoon, specimen holder (3)
Object number: 1000
English
Date: 1750-1825
Accessories: In drawer (1179b): 4 objectives: 1, 3, 4, 5; tweezers; stage forceps; 12 numbered ivory slides; brass slider; 3 glass slides; brush; ivory case for covers; egg shaped ivory case; small planoconvex lens. Pyramidal case .
Object number: 1179a
Robert Bancks
Date: 1805-1811
Accessories: 6 objectives 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8; two high power/ short focal length lenses in round brass boxes: A, B; 2 lenses in black rings in cylindrical boxes for aquatic use: 30, 40; 3 Lieberkühns with lenses; cone diaphragm; polarizer set; brass live box; 2 stage forceps; frog plate; 2 oculars; tweezers; brush; brass wet cell preparation slide; 10 ivory slides; ivory box with slide covers and rings; spring stage mount; watch glass and bracket; bull's eye on stand; case.
Object number: 1185
Benjamin Wood
Date: 1820
Accessories: 10 objectives, numbered 1-10 (caps on 1 and 2); 4 objectives with lieberkuhns (one lens missing); 2 oculars; 3 simple lenses in eye cups; diaphragm cone; live box; spring stage; three-wing stage; double-convex lens on rod; simple-lens carrier on an arm; ivory black/white disk; 1 ivory disk with cork; 3 flat glass disks of differing sizes; 1 large glass disk in threaded brass rim; 1 watch glass; 3 large glass, magnifying lenses, one tinted green; 2 small magnifying glasses; stage condensor; fish plate; 2 stage forceps; 1 stage 3-pronged gripper; tweezers; 3 ivory handled knives for preparations; 10 small and 3 medium ivory slides of transparent specimens; 3 ivory slides of opaque specimens; 3 boxwood slides of transparent specimens; 1 brass wet-cell slide with 4 apertures for preparations; 2 cylindrical ivory boxes with mica cover slips and snap rings; wrench; chamois; flat case with sockets for the above; key.
Object number: 1002
English
Date: 1790-1825
Accessories: 4 Objectives 1,2,3,4 ; Watch glass; Stage forceps; 3 ivory slides; Bone ring chamber
Object number: 1040
Robert Brettell Bate
Date: 1800-1825
Accessories: 2 objective lenses with lieberkuhns; 4 objectives; 3 ivory slides; stage forceps; brass tweezers; mica cover slips and wire retaining rings in ivory box; drop-in spring stage to hold slides; case.
Object number: 1013