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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
265 (Bausch
& Lomb; continental microscope BB; c. 1900)
Bausch
& Lomb was founded by two immigrants from Germany, Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb. Bausch was both an optician and
woodworker by training. Their company first became successful with the use of
hard rubber eyeglass frames. This eventually allowed expansion of the
business into other optical areas including microscopes. Bausch’s son Edward
learned to make microscopes, and the company prospered after it began to
manufacture them. The first patent granted to Bausch was for a very simple
Linen prover type microscope in 1865. About 1874, the firm started to produce
both simple and compound microscopes. In 1890 Edward Bausch contacted Carl
Zeiss, a German optics firm, and soon arranged for Bausch & Lomb to
license Zeiss’s patents, with the exclusive rights to the U.S. market. In
1907 Zeiss bought 20 percent of Bausch & Lomb, granting the company free
use of Zeiss patents in the United States. In 1915 Zeiss sold its 20% share
back to Bausch & Lomb, and until 1921, the two companies had no dealings
with one another (although Bausch & Lomb continued to use Zeiss patents).
In 1926 Jacob Bausch died, and Edward Bausch became chairman of the board. In
1937 Bausch & Lomb went public. The Bausch & Lomb's optical systems
division was bought by Cambridge Instruments in 1987, using the name
Cambridge instruments. Cambridge Instruments merged with Wild-Leitz in 1990 to form Leica plc. Microscope 265 is signed
on the foot with ‘Bausch & Lomb Optical Co, Rochester N. Y. & New
York City’. There is no serial number, but the instrument should be dated to
c. 1900. The instrument should correspond to Bausch & Lomb’s continental
microscope model BB (Figure 1). The original screw for fine adjusting on top
of the limb is missing from the instrument.
Figure
1.
Bausch & Lomb’s microscope model BB as features in an 1899 catalogue of
the company References Bausch & Lomb Optical Company (http://waywiser.fas.harvard.edu/people/220/bausch--lomb-optical-company), last accessed on 14.08.2020 BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO.-ITS
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT (https://www.asprs.org/wp-content/uploads/pers/1941journal/dec/1941_dec_175-180.pdf), last accessed on 14.08.2020 B&L HA laboratory compound
microscope (http://waywiser.fas.harvard.edu/objects/12694/bl-ha-laboratory-compound-microscope;jsessionid=5000CBF988AB76F23F75668B0F867D60?ctx=00eb638a-5677-4421-a946-62dd12fce81d&idx=40), last accessed on 30.01.2021 LAST
EDITED: 02.10.2022 |
