THE POWELL & LEALAND 1/50 OIL IMMERSION OBJECTIVE

MAKER: POWELL & LEALAND

DATE: c1880

SIGNED: N.A. 1.38, POWELL & LEALAND oil immersion, 1//50, POWELL & LEALAND No. 1

Authors: Jurriaan de Groot & Barry Sobel

Editor: Joseph Zeligs

This rare 1/50 oil immersion objective is signed Powell & Lealand both on its proximal part as well as its distal part. It is also signed with its serial number of 1 and its N.A. of 1.38. The original can is also signed Powell & Lealand, ¹/₅₀, Oil Immersion, N.A. 1.38, London. Unlike earlier P & L objectives, the signature on this objective is in block letters rather than script. According to Seville Bradbury this objective was first made in 1880. In the 1893 catalog, the 1/50th oil immersion achromat was priced at £80; in 2022 this would be over £11,426 or around $12,797 US. Its very short focal length would make using it very difficult and objects under a coverglass impossible to see unless the coverslip was unusually thin.