Microscope

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This early compound microscope was made around 1715, probably by John Marshall (1659-1722), a scientific instrument maker based in London.

The single draw microscope has a green leather body and is mounted on a brass pillar attached to a lead-weighted octagonal wooden base by a ball and socket joint. There is a drawer in the base.

Robert Hooke (1635-1703), Curator of Experiments to the Royal Society, was a pioneer of the construction and use of the microscope. He was probably the first person to design a side-pillar compound microscope like the one pictured here.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-190-002-062-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1974.120
• Date: Around 1715
  c. 1715
  
• Material: Gold-tooled, pasteboard and green leather body, turned wooden upper body, brass pillar, lead-weighted wooden base. Inscription: I.MARSHALL; Contribute by Edwd Waller Martin
  Microscope, compound / box
  
• Dimensions: 400 mm H; base 210 mm x 160 mm
  
• What: Microscope, compound / box
  
• Subject: 22. PHYSICS, Light (Departmental Classification)
  
• Who: Edward Waller Martin (Inscribed on the box)
  John Marshall, London (Maker)
  
• Where: England, London
  
• Event:
• Description: Compound microscope signed by John Marshall, London, c. 1715
  
• References:
  • For Marshall, see Clifton, Gloria, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851. London: 1995, p 28 
  • Nuttall, R. H., 'A Marshall Microscope in the Royal Museum of Scotland' in Microscopy 35 (1987), pp 499-509 
  • Wynter, Harriet & Turner, Anthony. Scientific Instruments. London: 1975 p 211 
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