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Microscope (detail)

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made in London

Microscope (detail)
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This photograph shows the signature on a microscope made in London in 1841 or 1842. The signature on the body tube reads: 'Andw. Rofs / 33 regent St. / Piccadilly/ No 30'.

By 1840, three new instrument makers, exclusively manufacturing microscopes, had emerged in London, who had learned how to make successful achromatic instruments. Through J.J. Lister's optical theory and their own remarkable skill, their microscopes were the best available optically. One of these, Andrew Ross (1798-1859), had long been involved in the trade, and he formed Andrew Ross & Co. in 1837, probably with financial assistance from Lister.

Andrew Ross's partnership ceased at some point in 1841. Subsequently, he began numbering his instruments: no 33 is in the collection of the Royal Microscopical Society, and is very similar to this example. It is also similar to the design illustrated by Ross in the article he wrote on the microscope for the Penny Cyclopaedia in 1839. In 1843, he introduced a Y-shaped foot, with bar-limb, which subsequently became known as the 'Ross model' microscope.

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