Antique Spike-Stand "flea glass" simple microscope with etui, ca. 1700-1750

Description

Offered for bidding is a wood Spike-Stand single microscope of ca. 1700-1750. These are early forms of the single microscope made of bone, horn, or fruitwood. They have a single, biconvex lens mounted on the top of a stand facing a spike on a movable rod or a brass sprung pin, to which a flower or an insect could be speared for inspection (thus the term "flea glass", an English translation of the Latin name vitrum pulicarium). Focusing was achieved by moving the spike backward or towards the lens. A similar microscope appears in Johannes Zahn's (1702) book. These instruments seem to date between the late 17th to the mid-18th century.The microscope offered here is a form of the Spike-Stand microscope, of a type that was probably related with an early stage of the manufacture of optical instruments by the wooden toy craftsmen of Bavaria (mostly Nuremberg), and the "Black Forest" areas of the German lands. This example should be dated roughly to the 18th century. The earlier forms of this style of instruments (such as the one seen here), sometimes come with cylindrical cardboard boxes coated with decorated roulette-pattern papers. The microscope is in good condition although it has a hairline crack in one place on the lens holder, which is nearly unseen (look closely at the fourth photo to see it). As always with these instruments, the optical quality of the lens is fair. But otherwise, this is a nice example of a rare very early single microscope, which would be a nice addition to any serious collection of historical scientific instruments.