Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Microscope 91 (assigned to A Franks; student microscope; late 19^th century)

A. Franks Ltd was an optician and instrument maker which traded between 1879 and 1950. Founded in the latter part of the 19^th century by Louis Aubrey Franks, they traded originally as 'L.A. Franks' from Manchester, listed as a manufacturer of photographic apparatus, optician and scientific instrument maker. Following a bankruptcy in 1879, a new firm was formed soon after, an optician trading as A. Franks. Microscope 91 is a compound microscope of simple make used essentially for didactic exercises or simple observations, dated from c. 1890. The holes of two screws probably indicate that an arm with a lens (now disappeared) was originally attached to the body of the microscope to illuminate opaque objects from above. Microscope 91 is not signed but the eyepiece contains the inscription “A. Franks, Manchester”. An identical microscope was sold in an eBay auction in November 2019, which included a wooden box with the inscription ‘A. Franks Manchester Opticians”. However, it is not clear if A. Franks was the manufacturer of these microscopes or just a retailer, as an identical microscope appears in an 1892 American catalogue and is described as a Harvard compound microscope of French origin (Figure 1). Another identical microscope was sold in an eBay auction in July 2020, including a wooden box labelled ‘William E. Statham, Optician’, a 19^th century instrument maker and retailer from the USA. This type of microscope was still sold during the first half of the 20^th century, for example described as Microscope Anglais Grand Modèle in the catalogue of the French company E. Vion from 1929 (Figure 1, right).

Figure 1. An advertisement published in the 1892’s The Youth's Companion American catalogue showing a microscope identical to microscope 91 (left), and the Microscope Anglais Grand Modèle as engraved in the catalogue of the French company E. Vion from 1929 (right).

References

Le Compendium. Microscope d'étudiant type "Harvard Compound Microscope" (http://www.lecompendium.com/dossier_optique_198_microscope_d_etudiant/microscope_d_etudiant.htm), last accessed on 12.08.2020

Microscopio "Harvard". C. 1890. "Harvard" Compound Microscope (https://sites.google.com/site/coleccionguillermocrovetto/home/microscopios-compuestos-sin-firma/microscopio-harvard), last accessed on 12.08.2020