Record

Trade card and receipt, for microscope sold by Carpenter & Westley

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in London

Postcard of Trade card and receipt, for microscope sold by Carpenter & Westley.
000-180-000-156-C
© National Museums Scotland

Trade card and receipt, for microscope sold by Carpenter & Westley

This photograph shows the trade card for the retailers of a simple microscope made by Carpenter & Westley of Regent Street in London, together with the receipt for the instrument. The receipt is dated 1865.

Optically-uncorrected microscopes continued to be popular - and they were less expensive to produce or buy - well into the 19th century, especially for botanical studies. However, by 1865 this was a very old-fashioned model indeed, resembling a design first produced during the 18th century.

Philip Carpenter had moved from Birmingham to London in 1826, and set up shop in fashionable Regent Street. After his death in 1833, the business was carried on by his sister Mary Carpenter, in partnership with the firm's foreman, William Westley. By 1865 the microscope business had tailed off, and they were deeply involved in the manufacture and supply of magic lanterns and their accessories.


Record details

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Online ID: 000-180-000-156-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0504: National Museums Scotland Part 2
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1979.49
Date: 1865
Material: Brass. Inscription: Carpenter & Wesley, 24, Regent Street, London (trade card)
Dimensions: 195 mm x 155 mm x 205 mm
What: Microscope, simple
Subject:
Who: Arthur Frank Microscope Collection
Carpenter and Wesley, 24 Regent Street, London (Maker)
Where: England, London
Event:
Description: Simple aquatic or dissecting microscope in brass, with 8 single lenses - two with lieberkuhns, accessories and case, unsigned but with trade card and receipt for Carpenter and Wesley of London, 1865
References:
  • For Carpenter, see Nuttall, R.H. Philip Carpenter and the 'Microcosm' exhibition: with a note on Carpenter and Westley's microscopes. Microscopy 33 (1976), pp 62-65. 
  • Nuttall, R.H. (1979): "Microscopes from the Frank Collection 1800 - 1860" 
  • Nuttall, R.H. Microscopes from the Frank Collection 1800-1860. Jersey, 1979, p 35. 
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