Martin Type Drum Microscope

Unsigned, [UK], Circa 1820-1840, Mahogany box trimmed with crimson red satin, microscope and accessories in brass, copper, bone, glass and wood.
This type of microscope was invented in 1738 by Benjamin Martin (1704-1782). The English manufacturer and inventor perfected this model throughout his career. In 1776, he published the description of a "portable apparatus of microscopic instruments" which included, for the first time, a rack.
Our unsigned model does not have a rack, it is composed of a cylinder forming the optical tube which moves by sliding in a second cylinder whose openwork bottom serves as a plate, this is equipped with a preparation pass-through spring-loaded, two holes placed on each side of the cylinder allow a glass tube to be slid under the plate. A movable concave mirror allows light to be reflected. On the plate, an object holder tweezer as well as a condensing lens (not shown here) can be attached. The box contains 6 complete lenses numbered from 1 to 6 and another lens closed with a screwed lid, a cylindrical brass box for storing clips and micas, 1 lens with Liberkühn mirror, a set magnifying glass, a white bone background, brass tweezers, and finally a hidden drawer containing 6 preparations on ebony and lemon wood bars.
Copy in perfect condition, with its bilingual French-English explanatory note including a plate with engraved figures. Impeccable optics. The condenser lens is missing as well as the box key. Similar copies: Harald Moe, The story of the microscope, Rhodos, 2004, p. 189, fig. 10.1 and GL'E Turner, The Great Age of the Microscope, 1989, p. 86, no. 70.