000-100-104-222-C © National Museums Scotland |
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Microscope
This simple microscope was made around 1745, probably by George Lindsay, a watchmaker based in London. Lindsay designed the instrument in 1728 and patented it in 1743 - the first English patent for a microscope.
The instrument is now incomplete, with no accessories or lenses. It is inscribed 'Geo. Lindsay Invent. & Fec.'
Designed to pack into a small box, it was commonly called the 'snuff box' microscope. Lindsay was granted his patent, no 588, for a 'portable microscope' on 17 February 1743.
Record details
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Online ID: |
000-100-104-222-C |
Image Rights Holder: |
National Museums Scotland |
Project: |
0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project |
Ref: |
National Museums Scotland T.1951.57 |
Date: |
1745 Around 1745
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Material: |
Inscription: Geo. Lindsay Invent. & Fec.
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Dimensions: |
3.50" x 3.50" x 2.00"
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What: |
Microscope, simple
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Subject: |
22. PHYSICS, Light (Departmental Classification)
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Who: |
George Lindsay, London (Microscope maker and inventor)
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Where: |
England, London
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Event: |
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Description: |
Simple microscope by George Lindsay, 1745, tripod pillar missing, no accessories or lenses, inscribed "Geo. Lindsay Invent. & Fec."
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References: |
- For a complete example, see Turner, G. L'E., The Great Age of the Microscope: The Collection of the Royal Microscopical Society Through 150 Years. Bristol & New York: 1989, pp 261-2
- For Lindsay's patent, see Brown, W. H., 'Patents connected with the microscope' in Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, 2nd series 15 (1895) pp 257-73, esp 259-62
- For Lindsay's publications on the microscope, see Taylor, E. G. R., The Mathematical Practitioners of Hanoverian England 1714-1840. Cambridge: 1966, p 163, item 193
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