FOLDING WITHERING-TYPE BOTANICAL MICROSCOPE:

This microscope, added to my collection in 2017, dates to between 1790 and 1810. It was a folding alternative to the cylindrical versions Withering had devised earlier. There are at least four variations of this folding type known. This example is housed in a mahogany case. The case measures about 4 1/2 inches(114 mm)in maximal length, by 2 1/2 inches in maximal width and about 1 inch(24mm) thick. It features a clever but simple arrangement which automatically erects the microscope for use when the case is opened. The flat box is more convenient to store in the pocket than the cylindrical ones he had devised earlier. It includes an ivory-handled scalpel (62 mm long), ivory-handled dissecting needle(67mm long), and brass tweezers about 65 mm long. There is also a separate brass-housed hand lens, (outer diameter 3 cm) with the lens opening of about 2 cm; this lens provides about 2-3X magnification. The built in lens for the microscope is housed in ivory of about 33 mm diameter, the lens opening being about 17 mm in diameter. The blackened ivory stage is about 34 mm in diameter. The lens on the microscope provides a slightly higher magnification than the hand held lens. The original label remains on the inside of the lid.