Description

Offered for sale is a collectable example of an antique monocular iron & brass microscope by quality makers Powell & Lealand of London.   The instrument isn’t numbered, it’s just inscribed “Powell & Lealand London” on the main tube.  It will most likely date to the 1850 to 1860 period.  This model of microscope was first introduced by P&L in the early 1840s and remained in production just into the early twentieth century.

Background to Powell & Lealand (P&L)

The partnership between Peter Lealand & Hugh Powell was first established in 1841 and the business continued to be run by Thomas Powell son of the founder Hugh Powell after his death in 1883.  The firm traded from various addresses in London including:

– 24 Clarendon St., Somerstown (1841-6)
– 4 Seymour Place, Euston Sq., New Rd. (1847-57)
– 170 Euston Rd. (1857- about 1905)

Powell & Lealand are now considered to have been one of, if not the premier English manufacturer of microscopes, with examples of their work attracting much interest and commanding high prices when they come up for auction.  P&L also produced bar-limb models as well as lister-limb examples like this iron model; they continued producing bar-limb models into the twentieth century when most other makers has abandoned that design.  Perhaps the holy grail for collectors being the P&L No. 1 model from the late Victorian period.

This example of the P&L student model is in original condition and presents well with its enameled iron work (a type of rust-proofing finish sometimes referred to as japanned or japanning), gleaming brass-work details and lovely age-appropriate patination.  It’s survived pretty well over the last 160 years or so and the brass-work still glints when its catches the light and I hope that the listing photos do the instrument justice.  

The instrument’s look and feel is of a quality not found in modern microscopes in that’s it’s fashioned from solid iron and brass, giving it a weighty feel and a quirky imposing presence with its asymmetric tripod foot, long elegant lister-type upper limb and single-sided coarse focus control.

Technical details – the construction is unusual being an asymmetric Y-shaped tripod foot in iron with single iron column upright supporting a pivot joint with tension lever and an elegant elongated Lister-type upper limb also in iron, along with a U-shaped iron stage support. 

Coarse focus for the instrument is by rack and pinion with an unusual arrangement, being single-sided thumb-wheel control and a rack and pinion system that’s hidden within the optical tube.  The coarse focus mechanism has a smooth action and holds in position as it should through its working range.  Fine focus is not provided on this model of microscope.

In terms of its optics, this microscope has an original approx 6x brass eyepiece which works well.  The supplied objective is pre-RMS and will be about 20x magnification, giving a useful magnification of around 120x as currently configured.

The instrument tilts for inclined viewing and holds in position through its working range as it should and it can be tightened as required via the limb tension lever.  The all-brass specimen stage is over-size at 5.5 inches in width x about 3.5 inches depth.  The stage has a fixed central aperture and is fitted with a sliding rest for holding slides which works well.

Turning to the sub-stage, we have lighting via a single-sided concave mirror in a brass mount with gimbal rotation adjustment and period silvering showing some foxing and a bit of silvering loss with reflectivity that’s perfectly adequate.

Accessories:

– bull’s-eye condenser in brass with adjustable arm that fits into a dovetail recess in the stage as shown in listing photos.

The instrument has been sensitively cleaned and also very lightly lubricated with non-hardening grease, so that the controls operate smoothly.  This example displays really well having quite a presence, with some lovely brass-work details which still catch the light.  The instrument is also endowed pretty well all over with age and use-related patination especially to the iron areas and it’s good to see that no-one has tried to re-paint the iron-work.  Overall, this example of a Powell & Lealand Iron Microscope  should make a great display piece, perhaps in a library or home office type of setting, especially when set up with an appropriate antique slide such as the paper-covered slide I’ve used in the listing photos.  

There’s no storage case with this instrument at the present time. 

Owing to the weight and delicacy of this antique microscope, it will be partially dismantled, carefully wrapped for shipping and dispatched by insured courier upon receipt of cleared funds.