Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

      

Microscope 513 (Carl Zeiss; Stand IVa; c. 1905)

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In 1846, Carl Zeiss opened a workshop for precision mechanics and optical instruments in Jena. He focused his activities more and more on microscope production. Soon he was supplying not only the regional market but also shipping his wares around the world. In 1866, Carl Zeiss recruited the physicist Ernst Abbe to help him improve his microscopes. In 1877, Ernst Abbe became a partner in the company. After the passing of Carl Zeiss in 1889, Ernst Abbe created the Carl Zeiss Foundation, which would become the company’s sole owner. Since the 1890s, Abbe’s findings and his style of working have also been adopted in other fields of optics. This led to the creation of all-new products, new business areas and rapid growth for the company. In 1893, the first subsidiary was opened in London. Before the outbreak of WWI, sites were established across the world, which then had to be closed when war broke out. There were more ups and downs between then and 1945. Thereafter, the sites outside Germany have been developing in a stable manner and today, Carl Zeiss AG is a holding company with several subsidiaries. In addition to its sites in Oberkochen and Jena, its main production sites are in Wetzlar and Göttingen in Germany, Dublin and Minneapolis in the US, and Shanghai in China. Microscope 513 is a Carl Zeiss microscope with the serial number 37255. This instrument is dated to c. 1905. This instrument is identified as stand IVa in a Carl Zeiss’s catalogue from 1902 (Figure 1). At some point of its history, this microscope was retailed by the firm Wallace Heaton Ltd, as suggested by a label glued on the body tube. Wallace Heaton Ltd was a photographic retailer based at 119 Bond Street, London, that traded independently from about 1919 until 1972 when it was bought by Dixons. The company was originally set up by Wallace Heaton, a pharmacist who over time moved his business from pharmacy to photography and photographic supplies.

 

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Figure 1. Carl Zeiss’s stand IVa microscope as engraved in the company’s 1902 catalogue.