Buron (Paris, France)

Nöel Buron was a Parisian maker of microscopes, and other optical and scientific equipment. Nöel took over his father’s business in 1818 and located in 21 Quai de la Cité, Paris, at the time of his acquisition. The Buron shop moved again during the mid-1820s and, by 1826, he was at 53 Rue Sainte Avoie. In the late 1830s the shop moved again to 10 Rue des Trois Pavillons. Nöel Buron retired and sold his business in early 1855 to Armand Charles Henri Lemaire and Henri Leiner, who continued the business under the name ‘Leiner and Company, successor of Buron’ until the late-1860s. By 1870 the business was acquired by J. Wemans and Co. Few microscopes are known to be signed by Buron, although several instruments were likely manufactured by Buron and retailed by other firms like McAllister and Co., of Philadelphia (USA), which operated under that name from 1836 until 1853. Others appear to have been sold by retailers such as Widdifield and Co., Boston (USA) (1838 until c. 1868), and Benjamin Pike Jr., New York (USA) (1843 until c. 1864).

L’Ingénieur Chevallier (Paris, France)

Jean Gabriel Augustin Chevallier established his optical shop at 1 Quai de l’Horloge, Paris, in 1796, and adopted the title “l’Ingénieur”, many times signing his instruments with “l’Ingénieur Chevallier”. J.G.A. Chevallier sold his business in 1842 to his son-in-law, Alexandre Victor Ducray, and daughter, Marie Louise Melanie Chevallier. In 1848, they and their children legally adopted the surname “Ducray-Chevallier”. Around 1842, the business moved to 15 Rue de Pont-Neuf, Paris. After J.G.A. Chevallier’s death in 1948, the firm became “Maison de l’Ingénieur Chevallier”. This name was retained after Alexandre Ducray-Chevallier’s death in 1879, and the sale of the business by Marie Louise to Charles and René Avizard in 1883 and persisted well into the twentieth century. The Avizards moved the shop to 21 Rue Royale in 1900 and merged their businesses under the name “Maison de l’Ingénieur Chevallier, Avizard Frères, successeurs”. The shop moved to 27 Avenue de l’Opéra between 1914 and 1921. The firm is not related with, but is many times confused with the other well-known family of Parisian opticians Vincent Chevalier (1770-1841), Charles Chevalier 1804-1859), and Arthur Chevalier (1830-1874).

Deyrolle (Paris, France)

The ‘Les fils d'Émile Deyrolle’, which traded from 1831 to 2003, was originally founded by Jean-Baptiste Deyrolle in Paris, France. He sold insects for natural history collections, and the business was passed down in the family and expanded to taxidermy and other natural history specimens. Four generations after opening the business the heirs changed the name to “Les Fils d'Émile Deyrolle” (they had taken over the business by 1896). At some point in history, they traded also optical instruments such as microscopes and other scientific equipment for the mounting, displaying, and maintenance and care of natural history specimens and collections.

Edouard Lutz (Paris, France)

Edouard Lutz (1832-1895) was a manufacturing optician who operated out of Paris at Boulevard Saint Germain in the late 19th century. The firm was founded in 1848 and Lutz supplied a variety of optical instruments, including a school microscope (Modéle des ecoles primaires), a pocket dissecting model, and achromatic models.

Hartnack & Prazmowski (Paris, France)

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 1973, 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.

Moreau (Paris, France)

Moreau (1805 – 1880) was a manufacturer of binoculars installed in Paris since 1830. The business of Moreau was merged with other opticians in 1849, forming the Deraisme house (167 Rue Saint-Maur, Paris), which specialised in binoculars and spotting telescopes, particularly for military use. Moreau is more known for the creation of the famous ‘Monkey Microscope’.

Nachet (Paris, France)

Camille Sébastien Nachet (1799 – 1881) started by working with Charles Chevalier and set up his own business in 1839. At that time, Chevalier, Oberhauser and Nachet were the main producers of microscopes in Paris. In the late 1850s, Nachet was joined by his son, Jean Alfred Nachet (1831-1908), who went by the name of Alfred. The firm was renamed Nachet et Fils around 1862, when Alfred was made a partner. Nachet was succeeded by his son, who named the firm ‘A Nachet’ from about 1880 to about 1890, when it became ‘Nachet et Fils’ once more when Alfred's son joined the partnership. By 1898 Nachet had taken over Hartnack and Prazmowski and also ‘Bezu, Hausser et cie’. The firm traded from Rue Serpente, Paris (1839 – 1862), Rue Séverin, Paris (1862 until after WW2), and Rue Chaptal 106, Levallois-Perret (1970s).

* Instrument kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023

Radiguet (Paris, France)

In 1805, an optician Mr. Chevalier, settles in Paris. His house is taken over by Marie-Honoré Radiguet (1791-1867) and specialises in the manufacture and sale of optical devices. In the years 1850-60 his son Honoré-Antoine Radiguet (1824-1887) succeeded him by adding the manufacture of barometers, thermometers and other measuring devices. In 1880, Arthur-Honoré Radiguet (1850-1905) extended his activity to scientific popularisation devices, working also with steam, electricity and photography. With his success, in 1899, Arthur Radiguet realizes his dream to merge with Maison Molteni, one of the most important manufacturers of scientific equipment of the 19th century and well known for its projection equipment, adopting the name Radiguet & Massiot. At some point the firm specialises in the medical field, playing a pioneering role in radiology. In 1960, the firm became a 50% subsidiary of Philips and then a 100% subsidiary of Philips France to become Massiot-Phillips and, later, Philips Systemes Medicaux.

Victor Morlot-Maury (Paris, France)

Not much information was found about Victor Morlot-Maury’s firm, other than that they were manufacturers and retailers of laboratory and scientific equipment, including microscopes (branded microscopes VMM). The firm traded from 11 Rue de Blainville, Paris, France, and was founded in 1868 according to an advert published in 1921 in the Revue Générale des Sciences.