Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

    

Microscope 486 (Smith & Beck; Student’s microscope; c. 1857)

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Smith & Beck was originally established in London, by Richard Beck (1827 - 1866) in association with James Smith (1800 – 1873), and later to be joined by his brother Joseph Beck. Richard and Joseph Beck were nephews of Joseph Jackson Lister, who was a respected British optician and physicist who experimented with achromatic lenses and perfected an optical microscope. In commissioning the manufacture of his improved microscope, Lister worked with James Smith, an employee of the instrument-making firm of William Tulley, to create the stand. James Smith went on to establish his own optical instruments workshop in 1837. Through this relationship, Lister arranged for his nephew, Richard Beck to be an apprentice under Smith in 1843. In 1847, James Smith entered into partnership with Richard Beck, and the company was re-named Smith & Beck. In 1854, the company was renamed to Smith, Beck & Beck, as Richard Beck's brother Joseph Beck joined the company in 1851. James Smith retired in 1865 and the company became R & J Beck and this name lasted for a long time. Smith & Beck traded at 6 Coleman Street (1848 - 1857) and Peartree Cottage, Holloway Road (1855 - 1857), both in London. Microscope 486 is engraved in the body tube with “Smith & Beck, 6 Coleman St., London”. The instrument is also engraved with the serial number 2022, suggesting it should be dated to c. 1850. The microscope came with its original wooden box and some accessories, but both the microscope and box require some restoration. This microscope was featured in several editions of W Carpenter’s book ‘The microscope and its revelations’ (from 1856 to 1875), and in other books such as Quekett’s ‘Practical treatise on the use of the microscope’ (1848 and 1852) (Figure 1). As Carpenter described, this instrument was rated as a second-class microscope, which included “… instruments which combine first-rate workmanship with simplicity in the plan of construction; and which may be consequently designated as ‘Superior Student’s Microscopes’…”. The fine adjustment is placed behind the pillar carrying the body.

 

Figure 1. Smith & Beck’s student microscope as featured in the 1856 edition of W Carpenter’s book ‘The microscope and its revelations’.