Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

    

Microscope 549A (replica of an Antonie van Leeuwenhoek microscope, made by Museum Boerhaave)

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Microscope 549A is a replica of an Antonie van Leeuwenhoek microscope, made of brass. The replica is engraved on one side with “COPIE LEIDEN”, and was hand-made by the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, Netherlands, probably in the 1980s (and is identical to a real Leeuwenhoek’s microscope model owned by the museum). This type of replica was made by Museum Boerhaave since 1960 until the 2010s by Arie de Vink, a former restorer/conservator of the museum (see here), and copies are owned and exhibited by several museums around the world. The museum still manufactures and sells replicas but, since 2011, these replicas are based on a slightly different Leuwenhoek’s microscope model also owned by the museum. The replica came with fine bespoke plexiglass display case engraved with “SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION”. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723) was a Dutch microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa, and is many times referred to as the father of microbiology. Leeuwenhoek made microscopes consisting of a single high-quality lens of very short focal length. At the time, such simple microscopes were preferable to the compound microscope, which increased the problem of chromatic aberration. Leeuwenhoek’s methods of microscopy remain something of a mystery. During his lifetime he made more than 500 lenses, most of which were very small (no larger than a pinhead) and usually mounted them between two thin brass plates, riveted together. A large sample of those lenses were found to have magnifying powers in the range of 50 to, at the most, 300 times.

 

·      Replica Van Leeuwenhoek microscope (https://museumboerhaave.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/replica-van-leeuwenhoek-microscope-english-version/)

·      The Microscope of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (Boerhaave Museum Replica) (https://microscope-antiques.com/vlleiden.html)

·      National Museum of American History (https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1367039)

·      Replica van Leeuwenhoek microscope (https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co146226/replica-van-leeuwenhoek-microscope)