Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

    

Microscope 459 (W. Matthews; compound microscope; c. 1860)

 

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William Matthews was a manufacturer and retailer of surgical and other medical equipment and, from the mid-1850s, also microscopes. Matthew’s shop was located on Portugal Street and the adjacent Carey Street, which were close by King’s College Hospital (the firm was the official supplier to the hospital). He moved to 8 Portugal Street sometime during c. 1853. William died in June 1868 but two of William’s sons, Walter William and Henry, continued to supply microscopes into the 1870s as Matthews Brothers. Microscope 459 is engraved with “W. Matthews, 8 Portugal St., London” and should be dated to c. 1860 (Figure 1). The binocular tube is not original of the instrument.

 

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Figure 1. Examples of two Matthews Brothers’ compound microscopes as engraved in an 1874 catalogue of the firm.