camera lucida for Zeiss stand I laboratory compound microscope
Date: 1885
Inventory Number: 1126b
Classification: Microscope
Subject:
Maker: Carl Friedrich Zeiss (1816 - 1888)
Maker: Carl Zeiss, Optische Werkstätte, Jena (1846 - 1904)
Maker: Carl Zeiss (company timeline) (founded 1846)
Inventor: Ernst Abbe (1840 - 1905)
Owner: Harold C. Ernst (1856 - 1922)
Collector: Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Jena,
City of Use:
Dimensions:
case: 4.2 × 6 × 5.4 cm (1 5/8 × 2 3/8 × 2 1/8 in.)
camera lucida: 4.7 × 4 × 4 cm (1 7/8 × 1 9/16 × 1 9/16 in.)
Accessories: case.
Description:
The Zeiss laboratory compound microscope with stand I (inv. 1126a) is accompanied by a small camera lucida or "drawing prism" (1126b).
The instrument consists of two prisms held in a brass housing pierced with a hole. The housing is blackened. It is held on a horizontal, nickel arm that is free to rotate in an upright nickel post . The latter is attached to a nickel collar that goes around the top of an eyepiece.
The collar is marked "C. ZEISS."
The case is a small, leather covered box lined in dark burgundy velvet with nickel hardware. The box is stamed in gold, "CARL ZEISS, JENA."
The instrument consists of two prisms held in a brass housing pierced with a hole. The housing is blackened. It is held on a horizontal, nickel arm that is free to rotate in an upright nickel post . The latter is attached to a nickel collar that goes around the top of an eyepiece.
The collar is marked "C. ZEISS."
The case is a small, leather covered box lined in dark burgundy velvet with nickel hardware. The box is stamed in gold, "CARL ZEISS, JENA."
Signedcamera lucida engraved: C. ZEISS
Inscribedbox stamped: CARL ZEISS, JENA
Historical AttributesOwned by Harold C. Ernst, M.D., first bacteriologist in the United States. A letter (in the file) from Carl Zeiss himself to Harold Ernst in 1885 promises that this order from the factory would be expedited. Dr. Ernst worked at the time with Robert Koch, and this was probably the reason for this extra attention.
Curatorial RemarksAccording to Eben Gay, Dr. Ernst transferred the larger coarse focus knobs from his damaged Stand I serial no. 9051 to this stand at some unknown date. Knobs were returned to their respective stands in April, 1979.
Primary SourcesErnst Abbe, Gesammelte Abhandlungen (Jena: Verlag Von Gustav Fischer, 1904), 245.
Carl Zeiss, No. 29 Carl Zeiss Optische Werkstätte Jena: Microscopes and Microscopical Accessories (Jena, Germany: Carl Zeiss, 1891).
Carl Zeiss, No. 29 Carl Zeiss Optische Werkstätte Jena: Microscopes and Microscopical Accessories (Jena, Germany: Carl Zeiss, 1891).
ProvenanceHarold C. Ernst; Department of Bacteriology; Harvard Medical School; Ernst-Lewis Collection of Microscopes (inv. no. 126), Harvard Medical School.