R & J BECK ANTIQUE BRASS \"BEST STUDENT\'S\" MICROSCOPE W/CASE & ACCESSORIES, 1866 For Sale

Payment | ShippingR & J BECK ANTIQUE BRASS \"BEST STUDENT\'S\" MICROSCOPE W/CASE & ACCESSORIES, 1866

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Click to View Image Album R & J BECK ANTIQUE BRASS “BEST STUDENT’S” OR NO 3 STAND SECOND CLASS MICROSCOPE WITH FULL COMPLIMENT OF ACCESSORIES IN MAHOGANY CLAMSHELL CABINET– SN-4596 - 1866You are invited to purchase a relatively rare, highly collectible and, I must say, VERY tall R & J Beck antique brass monocular microscope model known as the “Best Student’s” or No. 3 Stand. R & J Beck classified this instrument as their Second Class Microscope. Included with the microscope is a full compliment of accessories along with a Mahogany clamshell cabinet that houses the instrument along with all of the accessories. Included amongst the accessories is a Sorby’s Spectroscope Eyepiece, which in itself is a rare, highly desirable and very collectible microscope accessory. This microscope is signed in fancy script on the front face of the body tube, “R & J BECK, 31 CORNHILL, LONDON.” There is also a serial number “4596” engraved on the body tube, which dates this instrument to the year 1866, just shortly after the name of the firm was changed from Smith, Beck & Beck to R & J Beck.Note: For more on the history of the R&J Beck optical firm, please see below. Accompanying this listing is an image of this same model microscope that was extracted from my personal library copy of Richard Beck’s famous “A Treatise On The Construction, Proper Use And Capabilities of Smith, Beck And Beck’s Achromatic Microscopes” that was published in London in 1865. The similarities to the listed instrument are readily apparent. Don’t miss this opportunity to own this very fine example of this relatively rare R & J Beck antique brass “Best Student’s” microscope for your collection, be it private or institutional. This model microscope has got to be THE tallest monocular microscope ever made (Please see the accompanying image that shows the height of this instrument compared to a standard bottle of wine). As such, this microscope along with its extensive compliment of accessories is certain to command a prominent place in any antique microscope collection. Not only is this instrument beautiful to behold, but also it is still a fully functional optical instrument of high quality that comes with enough complimentary accessories to keep its new owner busy for a long time. DETAILED DESCRIPTION: This microscope is built upon a foundation of a heavy Ross designed Y-shaped claw foot of solid brass. But, in contrast to most similar microscopes manufactured at the time, the foot is reversed with the single toe facing forward. This uncommon arrangement actually gives the instrument greater stability especially when the body tube is inclined. Rising from the base is a pair of brass plates or trunnions that terminate in a trunnion joint that supports the stage, limb, substage apparatus and the rest of the instrument. The trunnion joint allows the instrument to be inclined to various angles from the vertical to the horizontal for the comfortable viewing of specimen slides mounted atop the stage.This microscope is equipped with a relatively compact mechanical stage with a working area of about 3.5 by 3 inches. The x & y movements of the stage are controlled by milled heads found on the right side of the instrument. Mounted on top of the stage is a moveable slide carrier that can rotate a full 360 degrees as well as forward and back in the y direction. Dual slide clamps moving within dovetail tracks are used to capture specimen slides. The forward slide clamp has a socket fitting for an optional stage forceps (not included). Under the stage is a bayonet fit substage carrier that is used to accommodate a whole array of substage accessories including condensers, substage polarizers, etc. Completing the substage illumination apparatus is a 55mm diameter plano-concave mirror mounted in an articulating brass yoke that is able to move laterally in various directions and also slides up or down on a cylindrical brass bar that extends downward from the base of the limb. Extending vertically from the rear of the stage is a cylindrical pillar that ultimately morphs into the limb that supports the body tube of this instrument. Coarse focus is by rack and pinion controlled by a pair of oversized milled heads. The rackwork on this instrument is horizontal. Fine focus is by a calibrated micrometer screw found at the base of the pillar on the rear of the stage. This screw acts on a lever found under the stage that pushes against a spring loaded thrust plate within the limb forcing the entire limb with body tube slightly up or down for a very precise form of fine focus with very little backlash. The long body tube of this microscope includes a long graduated drawtube. The drawtube is designed to accept a screw in erecting glass (see list of accessories below & composite image) that is provided with the instrument. At the top of the drawtube is an ocular holder. Two (2) top-hat style Beck eyepieces are included with the microscope, one of which has a built-in moveable needle pointer and the other one is designed to accommodate a prism analyzer. The lower end of the body tube has female RMS threads. A total of four (4) Beck objective lenses, each of which has brass canisters for storage when not in use on the instrument, are provided with the microscope: A R&J Beck 1 ½-inch objective, a R&J Beck1-inch objective, a R&J Beck 1/5-inch objective with correction collar, and a R& J Beck 1/10-inch Immersion objective with correction collar. When set up for observations with the drawtube fully extended, this instrument stands about 25 inches tall, taller than any other antique brass monocular microscope that I have yet encountered. When the drawtube is fully nested within the body tube for storage of the instrument within its wood case, the microscope stands about 15.5 inches tall. This microscope weighs about 7 pounds.This microscope comes in its original horizontal clamshell type Mahogany wood case with lock and key. Inside the case are wood racks that accommodate all of the provided accessories. The exterior dimensions of the wood case are 16.5 inches long, 8.5 inches wide and 6.5 inches deep. The microscope in its case with all of the accessories weighs about 15 pounds. Following is a list of included accessories with their respective R&J Beck catalogue numbers (Note: The Catalogue numbers associated with each of the items are from the “Illustrated Price List Of Microscopes, Microscopic Apparatus And Other Optical Instruments Manufactured By R & J Beck, London” and dated 1882.):66 Sorby’s Spectroscope Eyepiece
67 Sorby’s Dichroiscope
87 Lieberkuhn with screw on end cap
94 Adaptor for centering or throwing out of centre, and for revolving the Illuminating Apparatus
99 Erecting Glass (screws into the distal end of the drawtube)
100 Graduated drawtube
109 Achromatic Condenser/Amplifier
115 Substage Polarizing Apparatus with associated eyepiece mounted analyzer
119 Selenite Stage plate
136 Darkwell holder with three (3) dark wells
155 Wollaston’s Camera Lucida, with lens to magnify pencil point
165 Wenham’s Compressorium
168 Live-box
169 Glass troughPlus, these additional accessories for which I was unable to locate catalogue numbers:*Glass stage plate with ledge
*Rectangular brass plate with recessed center & 2 recessed edges 180 degrees of center (appears to be incomplete).Note: Of all the accessories, the Sorby’s spectroscope eyepiece is of special interest to collectors of Beck instruments. I will provide with this accessory a full description of the unit with accompanying diagrams of its component parts extracted from the aforementioned Beck Catalogue. STATEMENT OF CONDITION:NOTE: The attached digital images of the microscope are a part of this statement of condition. The images were captured under natural light conditions. Please take the time to view all of the images so you will be able to ascertain the condition of the microscope and to see what you will be getting should you be the very fortunate new owner of this antique brass R & J Beck “Best Student’s” microscope. Overall this microscope is in good to very good cosmetic, optical and mechanical condition and in clean working order with a few caveats as noted below: The brass is in relatively good condition with an estimated 80 to 85 % of the original lacquer still present. The brass has some age tarnish present especially on the top of the foot, on the limb, and on the top of the stage. The front face of the body tube also shows evidence of some abrasion, scratches and rubbing perhaps from the attempts of a previous owner to clean it. It should be noted that these types of cosmetic imperfections are to be expected on a microscope that is now over 149 years old and counting. Overall, the brass work has a nice deep honey gold patina that is still very attractive. The only treatment we have given this instrument was to clean it of dust and grime with dilute Windex and then to give a coating of Renaissance Wax from THE GEMMARY in order to protect the brass from further tarnish.NOTE: WE MAKE IT OUR FIRM POLICY NOT TO DEEP CLEAN AND POLISH ANTIQUE BRASS MICROSCOPES. The primary optics (oculars and objective lenses) associated with this microscope are in excellent condition, with no evidence of fogging, scratches, fungus, delamination or other defects. However, I did note that the correction collar on the 1/10-inch objective appears to be stuck in one position. We did not try to force it. The plano-concave mirror is in relatively poor condition with loss of silvering evident on both sides. However, despite its condition, it provides adequate illumination to the stage. Both the coarse and fine focus mechanisms on this microscope work smoothly and precisely. However, the rackwork has an eroded spot right near its top. But, this does not interfere with proper focus throughout its normal operating range with each of the provided objectives. The slide holder is in good condition and rotates freely. In addition, the x-y movements of the stage work smoothly without binding. The provided accessories all appear to be in good condition. However, the Camera Lucida has a cracked lens. The Sorby’s Spectroscope eyepiece appears to be complete and all of the parts appear to function normally, although we did not have occasion to test it on the microscope. The prisms in the polarization apparatus are clear and free of any “prism disease.”The Mahogany case that houses this microscope & accessories is in very good serviceable condition. The case includes its key, but for some reason the key does not turn the lock. This may just be an age issue. All of the wood racks inside the case appear to be present and are in good condition. The exterior of the case has some scratches and dings from use over the years, but these cosmetic imperfections do not harm its overall structural integrity, which is very good. All in all, this is a very fine example of an R&J Beck antique brass “Best Student’s” microscope. The fact that it comes with a full compliment of useful accessories and in its original Mahogany wood cabinet adds considerable “luster” to the instrument from a collector’s perspective. It most certainly is worthy of any antique microscope collection and will no doubt be a very handsome and welcome addition thereto. ABOUT THE MANUFACTURER – R&J BECK, LONDON:The optical firm that was to ultimately become R & J Beck was founded by James Smith (1789 – 1870). Smith was a very talented mathematical instrument maker who at the relatively late age of 50 established himself in business in 1839 in London. From 1839 to 1847, his business was located at 50 Ironmonger Row, Old Street, London. Smith received the assistance of the famous lens maker, J.J. Lister, in the design of his 1inch, ½ inch and ¼ inch objective lenses used on his microscopes. Smith also made microscopes for Lister’s many clients. In 1840, Stand Number 41 went to Lister himself and in 1841 Stand Number 43 was sold to the Microscopical Society of London. In addition, one of Smith’s microscopes found its way into the hands of the famous British naturalist, Charles Darwin. A nephew of J. J. Lister was Richard Beck (1827 – 1866), who was sent by Lister as an apprentice to Smith in 1846. One year later (in 1847) Beck was taken into partnership with Smith, and the firm was called “Smith & Beck.” At this time the new partnership relocated to 6 Coleman Street, London. During this time frame the partnership experimented with several microscope stand designs some involving double pillars and others with a compass joint below the stage. In 1851 they came out with a Student Microscope that adopted the Ross “Y” shaped flat tripod foot, but turned around, so that the single toe was at the front instead of the back. The judges at the Great Exhibition of 1851 awarded Smith & Beck a Council Medal for one of their microscopes, even though they thought that Andrew Ross’s entry was slightly ahead mechanically and optically. In 1851, Joseph Beck (1829 – 1891) joined his brother in the firm. Joseph Beck had already served an apprenticeship with Troughton & Simms, which was considered by many to be the foremost scientific instrument maker of the time. By the year 1857, he, too, was a partner in the firm, and, the name of the firm was changed to “Smith, Beck & Beck.” In the same year that Joseph Beck joined the firm, they issued their first printed Catalogue entitled, “Catalogue of Achromatic Microscopes.” In 1859 Joseph Beck became a lifelong member of the Microscopical Society of London. By the year 1853 the demand for the firm’s products had risen to such a degree that they established a factory in Kentish Town, Holloway and called it “Lister Works” in recognition and appreciation of the firm’s most famous mentor and promoter. In 1859 they issued a revised and expanded Catalogue of Microscopes under the Smith, Beck & Beck moniker. In 1864, James Smith retired, and the name of the firm was changed again to “R. & J. Beck.” The head office was moved to 31 Cornhill, London. Later in June of 1880, the firm’s address was at 68 Cornhill, London. For some 15 years, from 1870 to 1885, the firm had as its sole agent in America James W. Queen & Co. of Philadelphia. During this time frame many of the instruments produced by R. & J. Beck found their way to America and the microscopes were signed, “R & J Beck, London and Philadelphia.”Joseph Beck had a son, Conrad, who beginning in 1897 continued to operate the firm into the early years of the 20th Century. In that year, the name of the firm was changed once more to “R. & J. Beck, Ltd” after the death of both of the senior Beck brothers. In the 1920s Conrad Beck was the author of several handbooks on the microscopes produced by the firm. These handbooks, as well as the instruments produced by the firm throughout its long and distinguished history are highly prized by modern collectors. PURCHASE:THE MONTANA LOGGER is very pleased to offer this excellent R & J Beck Antique Brass “Best Student’s” Microscope with its original wood case and a full compliment of accessories for a very reasonable “Buy-It-Now” cost. We will also entertain reasonable offers for this highly collectible instrument.NOTE: WE WARMLY WELCOME INTERNATIONAL buyers/BUYERS. WE SHIP WORLDWIDE.PAYMENT: Payment via PayPal is due within 3 days of purchase. Prompt payment is always very much appreciated.BEST OFFERS: Please plan to submit your best offers as early as possible during the listing period. Due to the fact that we review each and very offer on its own merits, we often are not immediately available to review and respond to offers that are submitted during the last few hours or minutes of the listing period. Thanks! PaymentBack to Top
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