Signedon front foot: R & J. BECK 31. CORNHILL LONDON
Inscribedserial no. on front foot: 7673
Historical AttributesThis microscope was Alexander Agassiz's personal instrument. It was used at his Marine Biological Laboratory in Newport, Rhode Island, where Agassiz summered. The instrument appears with Agassiz in a portrait that shows him working in this lab. Corrosion on parts of the microscope are probably due to contact with marine creatures and sea water.
This microscope was given to the Ernst-Lewis Collection on May 18, 1936 by Dr. Thomas Barbour, Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
According to the correspondence between Conrad Beck, managing director of R. & J. Beck, and Dr. Frederic T. Lewis in 1939, the microscope is the type called the "Small Best" and was made in 1876. With all the accessories, it would have cost between £60 and £80.
Primary SourcesRichard Beck, A Treatise on the Construction, Proper Use, and Capabilities of Smith, Beck, and Beck's Achromatic Microscopes, 3rd ed. (London: John van Voorst, 1865).
ProvenanceAlexander Agassiz, Marine Biological Laboratory, Newport, Rhode Island, c. 1876; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, c. 1910; transfer by Thomas Barbour, MCZ Director to the Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes (inv. no. 122), Harvard Medical School, May 18, 1936.