Withering-type botanical microscope, 1780
The “Withering-type Microscope” is named for its inventor, Dr. William Withering (1741-1799), an English physician and botanist who graduated with a degree in medicine 1766 in Edinburgh. Inspired by the taxonomical work and systematic classification of Carl Linnæus (1707-1778), Withering (1776) applied the Linnaean taxonomical system of classification to British plants in a seminal, two volume work, A Botanical arrangement of all the vegetables naturally growing in the British Isles. The earliest reference to a small botanical microscope of Withering’s design appeared in the first edition of this book. There, Withering indicated this microscope was developed for field dissections of flowers and other plant parts. While there is no surviving example of this exact design, close relatives of this type do exist, made either completely of brass or of ivory with brass pillars. Ivory models can be tentatively dated to 1776-1785, as by 1787 a newer model with a hollowed stage in an all-brass configuration already predominated. In turn, it was preceded by the brief appearance of a transitional brass model but with solid stage of ivory or horn (seen here). This version is extremely rare and must have been produced in very small numbers. By 1787 all these varieties were not recorded anymore in the literature.
Withering-type botanical microscope, 1780
The “Withering-type Microscope” is named for its inventor, Dr. William Withering (1741-1799), an English physician and botanist who graduated with a degree in medicine 1766 in Edinburgh. Inspired by the taxonomical work and systematic classification of Carl Linnæus (1707-1778), Withering (1776) applied the Linnaean taxonomical system of classification to British plants in a seminal, two volume work, A Botanical arrangement of all the vegetables naturally growing in the British Isles. The earliest reference to a small botanical microscope of Withering’s design appeared in the first edition of this book. There, Withering indicated this microscope was developed for field dissections of flowers and other plant parts. While there is no surviving example of this exact design, close relatives of this type do exist, made either completely of brass or of ivory with brass pillars. Ivory models can be tentatively dated to 1776-1785, as by 1787 a newer model with a hollowed stage in an all-brass configuration already predominated. In turn, it was preceded by the brief appearance of a transitional brass model but with solid stage of ivory or horn (seen here). This version is extremely rare and must have been produced in very small numbers. By 1787 all these varieties were not recorded anymore in the literature.
References: SML: A242712; Goren 2014.
References: SML: A242712; Goren 2014.
Prof. Yuval Goren's Collection of the History of the Microscope
European Variations of the Cuff Microscope
The emergence of the original Cuff microscope in about 1745 gained considerable publicity and promotion on the initiative and books of Henry Baker. Because the microscope was never patented, a process that was quite complicated in the 18th century, copies of it soon appeared both by other English makers and by European makers in countries where the microscope was widely used: France, the Netherlands and the German lands. These imitations adopted the main idea of Cuff's design, adding indigenous ideas that have already taken root in these countries in the context of microscope designs. Among other things, one can see in the French and German designs the influence of the box microscope that has been prevalent there since the beginning of the 18th century. Various manufacturers contributed to the original pattern and perfected it, among other things, by giving up Cuff's unobtrusive focusing system and replacing it with a more convenient rack and pinion focus that left out the original Hevelius screw for the fine focusing, which was not necessary due to the magnification limitations of these microscopes.
The examples here present a design, likely of a German manufacturer, and a typical design of a Dutch manufacturer whose identity is almost certain. On the other hand, the well-known French manufacturer of the time, Claude-Siméon Passemant, chose to stick in most cases to Cuff's original design with less noticeable changes.
German Cuff-Type Microscope, ca. 1760
A Cuff-type microscope, possibly German, the second half of the 18th century. This microscope is of a hitherto unrecorded design, unsigned, but the overall style and several details within it strongly suggest a German origin.
When fully set, the microscope stands 37cm high, mounted on the top of the 15x21x8cm fitted mahogany case. The body tube screws into an arm at the top of the pillar; coarse and fine focussing is by a Cuff-type mechanism (sliding block with a clamp screw and long threaded screw connecting the block and the arm holding the body tube). The single-sided mirror (the glass is now reconstructed, the frame is original), is mounted in a plate at the base of the pillar. A Bonanni-type spring stage can be screwed into the stage. The inside of the drawer is covered with 18th-century printed paper that recalls German manufacture.
So far, only another example of this microscope is known to us from a private collection in France. That microscope is the same in every detail as the one in our collection, but it also has the eyepiece cover that is missing in our example. In terms of style, details (such as the printed paper lining the inside of the drawer), the design of the optical tube and the shape of the box that serves as the basis for the microscope, it is clear that this microscope was inspired by the London-based maker John Cuff from around 1745. This design was quickly copied by many manufacturers in England and soon moved to continental European countries as well. Copies inspired by the Cuff microscope were created by Claude Simeon Passemant (1702–1769) in Paris, Dutch manufacturers such as Jacob Huisen (1739–1792) and Jacobus Lommers (1696–c1775), both of Utrecht in the Netherlands; or Georg Friedrich Brander (1713–1783) from Augsburg. One model of a box-top microscope created by Brander is remarkably similar to the microscope seen here and this affinity may indicate a similar source, but in the absence of signed examples, this hypothesis cannot be substantiated.
Box microscope by G. F. Brander,
source: https://www.mccrone.com/mm/the-microscopes-of-victor-frankenstein/
© Microscope History all rights reserved
© Microscope History all rights reserved
Cuff-Styled Microscope by Schleenstein of Cologne, ca. 1775
This Cuff-styled case-mounted microscope is known in only a small number of examples. It appears as No. 132 in the Golub Collection (previously #61 of the Nachet Collection), No. V07290 in the Museum Boerhaave and a fragmentary example, A604176 in the SML. Only one signed example is in the Whipple Museum in Cambridge, signed "C.V. Schleenstein à Cologne". The Golub collection indicates that according to the Websters' Instrument Makers Database of the Adler Planetarium, C.V. Schleenstein was a Mathematical and Surveying instrument maker of 18th Century Germany. This microscope was said by the dealer to be purchased in Köln (Cologne), Germany.
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© Microscope History all rights reserved
© Microscope History all rights reserved