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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
251 (unassigned
maker; microscope universel; 1920s)
Microscope 251 is a French pocket
microscope with variable magnification and can be dated to the 1920s. The
instrument is engraved with ‘MICROSCOPE UNIVERSEL À GROSSI VARIABLE, BREVETÉ
S.G.D.G.’ and can be used free-standing or hand-held. The magnification is
varied by raising or lowering the draw tube. The instrument collapses and
folds into a small package and the object holder serves as a lens cap. This
kind of microscopes was apparently made for decades
and this instrument should represent one of the newest models, manufactured
in the 1920s by the Manufacture d'Armes et Cycles de St Etienne, containing a
more stable support (Figure 1). The instrument came with its original wooden
box and instructions manual. These instruments figure for example in the
French company E. Vion’s 1929 catalogue, where they are named microscope
universel de poche.
Figure
1.
French microscope universel with variable magnification from c. 1900
as pictured in the manual of utilisation of the instrument (A) and the new
model manufactured in the 1920s (B). References Microscope
Universel à Grossissement Variable, c. 1925 (http://www.antique-microscopes.com/photos/Microscope_universel_grossissement_variable.htm), last
accessed on 17.01.2021 PORTABLE
FOLDING FIELD MICROSCOPE, 1ST THIRD 20TH C., FRENCH 'UNIVERSAL MICROSCOPE' (https://www.microscope-antiques.com/fruni.html), last
accessed on 17.01.2021 Microscopio
Universal. Francia (c 1903). French pocket microscope "Universal" (https://sites.google.com/site/coleccionguillermocrovetto/home/microscopios-compuestos-sin-firma/microscopio-universal-francia), last
accessed on 17.01.2021 Microscope
universel à grossissement variable (http://www.lecompendium.com/dossier_optique_38_microscope_a_grossissement_variable/microscope_a_grossissement_variable.htm), last accessed on 17.01.2021 LAST
EDITED: 02.09.2022 |
