Compound and Simple Microscope on a Folding Tripod Base
English, unsigned. c.1815
(Possibly made/sold by Matthew Berge, London)
The microscope and the
accessories are stored in a mahogany case measuring
8.25 x 7.14 x 2.5 inches. When set up for use as a
compound microscope, it is 10.5 inches in height. The
microscope comes equipped with five numbered
objectives, another objective with a Lieberkuhn
reflector for use with opaque objects, an eye-shade for
when the microscope is utilized as a simple microscope,
a live box, a fish plate, a stage forceps, a hand
forceps, a stage condenser, a dissecting knife, two
ivory sliders, an ivory talc box, and two glass stage
inserts. Typical of microscopes from this period, the
internal optics consist of a double eye lens and a
field lens in the middle of the tube.
An identical microscope marked Berge, Late
Ramsden, London having a slightly
different layout in the case has recently appeared at
auction. Another one (maybe the same one?) with the same signature also is known.
Matthew Berge worked for the famous instrument
maker Jesse Ramsden (1725-1800) and upon Ramsden's
death in 1800, took over the business. Berge himself
died in 1819.
