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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
167 (Hartnack
& Prazmowski; microscope stand III; c. 1880)
The origins of Hartnack
& Prazmowski were in the Parisian optical business founded by Georg
Oberhaeuser, who popularised Martin’s drum microscope pattern and developed
the horseshoe-footed continental stand. Oberhaeuser began his business in c.
1830 (his shop was located at 19 Place Dauphine in 1832). In 1854, he formed
a partnership with his assistant Hartnack (who started working with
Oberhaeuser in 1847) and retired shortly afterwards in 1854. The business
operated as “Oberhaeuser and Hartnack” until 1859, when Hartnack became the
sole owner and the firm became simply “Hartnack”. Hartnack left France in
1870, at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, and went to establish a
business in Potsdam, near Berlin, known as Hartnack. The Paris business
continued as “Hartnack et Cie” and, later, in 1873, Hartnack and Prazmowski
(moving to 1 Rue Bonaparte). Prazmowski took sole ownership of the Paris
business in 1878, and later, in 1883, passed it on to his employees Bézu and
Hausser. The firm became “Bézu, Hausser et Cie”, although they continued to use
Prazmowski’s name until his death in 1885. They sold the business to Alfred
Nachet in 1896. Hartnack’s Potsdam business continued after his death until
well into the 1900s. Microscope 167 was made by Hartnack &
Prazmowski, was known as stand III (Figure 1), and can be dated to c. 1880.
The draw tube of the microscope is engraved with ‘Mon E. Hart.
& A. Praz., A. Prazmowski sucr, Rue Bonaparte 1, Paris’. The
eyepiece of microscope 167 is engraved with ‘Abdn. Univ., Bot. Dept.’.,
suggesting that this microscope belonged to University of Aberdeen at some
point in history. The draw tube also contains the inscription ‘13’, but with
a different font type. The foot of microscope 167 is engraved also with ‘Path
Lab. 13’, suggesting that number 13 is an identification number of the
instrument specific to the university rather than an original inscription by
the maker. There is no indication of serial number in the instrument.
Figure
1. Hartnack & Prazmowski’s stand III microscope as
engraved in Leopold Dippel’s “Das Mikroskop” (1882) References Georg Johann Oberhäuser / Georges Jean Oberhaeuser, 1798-1868; Friedrich Edmund Hartnack, 1826-1891; Adam Prażmowski, 1821-1885 (http://microscopist.net/Oberhaeuser.html), last accessed on 21/01/2021 E. Hartnack: Kleines Hufeisenmikroskop (http://www.museum-optischer-instrumente.de/Hartnack_11186.html), last
accessed on 21/01/2021 Bézu, Hausser, and Company, 1883 – 1896 (http://microscopist.net/BezuHausser.html), last
accessed on 21/01/2021 Hartnack & Prazmowsky (Bezu & Haussier Suc.rs) model IIIA , Paris 1885-1896 (http://www.igm.cnr.it/1/pagine-personali/maga-giovanni/maga-microscopes/hartnack/), last accessed on 21/01/2021 Sigmund Freud’s microscope – on the 150th birthday anniversary of the histologist (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artoct06/mc-freud.html), last accessed on 21/01/2021 HARTNACK Friedrich Edmund, 1826-1891, PRAZMOWSKI Adam 1821-1885 (http://histoiredumicroscope.com/hartnack-prazmowski/), last accessed on 21/01/2021 OBERHAUSER Georges, 1798-1868, HARTNACK Friedrich Edmund, 1826-1891 (http://histoiredumicroscope.com/hartnack-e-suc-oberhauser-g/), last accessed on 21/01/2021 View from the dog house (https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2020/11/view-from-the-dog-house/), last accessed on 21/01/2021 LAST
EDITED: 26.01.2021 |
