dkCambridgeshire Posted March 25, 2009 Share #1 Posted March 25, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just a nameplate of the former owner ... ... of this imitation leather covered attache case ... but the case handle is real leather. ... but when we turn the key and open the lid ... ... what a wonderful surprise to behold. It's an Ernst Leitz travelling microscope made in 1923 complete with three objective lenses and keepers, five eyepieces, slide clips, plus the original cedar wood oil (cedern-oel) bottle and keeper and chamois leather cleaning cloths. There is an empty E LEITZ WETZLAR brass keeper with engraved cap reading "1/12 Oel Immersion" so at some stage the oil immersion objective may have suffered from the type of oil used ie cement may have been penetrated the lens element and thus the lens was abandoned. But the lens was not part of the original equipment according to the certificate. cont'd ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Hi dkCambridgeshire, Take a look here A name on a case .... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
dkCambridgeshire Posted March 25, 2009 Author Share #2 Posted March 25, 2009 The original Ernst Leitz certificate for instrument S/N 210693 dated 21 March 1923 is in the lid and protected by a piece of acetate. It is thus in remarkably good condition for an 85 year old document. Above the certificate is the brass nameplate of the Swiss agent: INDUSTRIE GÉNÉRALE d'OPTIQUE Marcel WIEGANDT 10 Grand Qual GENÉVE. The instrument S/N is also embossed on the corner of the case All the objectives and eyepieces are present and correct as per the certificate but the 7x objective seems to have been replaced in 1929 as per the annotation in the cap of its brass keeper These are the filters for the sub-stage condenser on top of one of the chamois leather cloths cont'd ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted March 25, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted March 25, 2009 One of the chamois leathers close-up printed with the agent's motive This is the folded microscope after taking it out of the case ... note the foot is collapsed and the stage is swung vertically for storage Microscope now upright ready for assembly ... foot still collapsed and stage still vertical. Close-up of the sub-stage condenser attached to the stage still in the vertical position cont'd ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted March 25, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted March 25, 2009 Foot now swung open, sub-stage swung to horizontal, stage clips inserted, objective lenses screwed into lens turret, eyepiece inserted into drawtube. Two additional keepers are not included in this photo. Close-up of the microscope body and part of the drawtube with the engraved S/N 210693. The condition suggests that Ernst Leitz used exceptional quality brass lacquer. The microscope is not particularly rare but the fact that the instrument is in remarkably excellent cosmetic and functional condition is testament to the superb quality of E.Leitz design and engineering. At the time this microscope was made in 1923 the first 31 "Null Series" Leica prototype cameras were being built and evaluated and the board was deciding whether or not to put the first mass produced Leica camera into production. Production of the first Leica I Anastigmat, the world's first successful mass produced 35mm camera subsequently commenced in late 1924. The rest is history ... right up until the Leica S2 expected to go on sale later this year. I am wondering if Susan Allen was the original owner because in the 1920's women were only just being accepted into British universities and they suffered considerable professional discrimination. So far, searches using "Susan Allen" linked to "microscopy" and similar have revealed nothing but I will try a few more just in case she was a well known professional. And I'm wondering if Ms. Allen was in fact British ... she could have been American. Cheers dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
echorec Posted March 25, 2009 Share #5 Posted March 25, 2009 Wonderful, thanks for sharing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik van Straten Posted March 25, 2009 Share #6 Posted March 25, 2009 Beautiful find! Thanks for showing! Erik. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted March 26, 2009 Share #7 Posted March 26, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thank you for showing these gorgeous objects so well illustrated and instructively explained! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted March 26, 2009 I am not an expert microscopist and now realize that the "certificate" is something more than just an inventory of the optics supplied and the date of manufacture ... The document is a matrix which probably enables optimum setting of the microscope - possibly the drawtube length? But I cannot translate the text above the figures ie: " VergröBerungen bel 170 mm Tubuslänge und 250 mm Bildweite. (Wenn das Mikroskop mit Revolver versehen ist, wird der Tubusauszug auf Strichmarke 152 gestellt) " Could someone please translate the text? Hopefully, I will then be able to understand the figures better. Thanks dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeicaTom Posted March 26, 2009 Share #9 Posted March 26, 2009 Wow! That is truly beautiful Thank You for sharing! Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted March 28, 2009 Share #10 Posted March 28, 2009 " VergröBerungen bel 170 mm Tubuslänge und 250 mm Bildweite. (Wenn das Mikroskop mit Revolver versehen ist, wird der Tubusauszug auf Strichmarke 152 gestellt) " I know the German terms but unfortunately not the English ones. However, there goes: (Title) Magnification scales for a drawtube length of 170mm and a (distance between real image and optical plane of objective lens) of 250mm. (Remark on setting the proper length of the tube): When the microscope is fitted with the objective lens turret the tube is to be set to mark 152 on the scale. I hope that this helps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted March 28, 2009 Author Share #11 Posted March 28, 2009 I know the German terms but unfortunately not the English ones. However, there goes: (Title) Magnification scales for a drawtube length of 170mm and a (distance between real image and optical plane of objective lens) of 250mm. (Remark on setting the proper length of the tube): When the microscope is fitted with the objective lens turret the tube is to be set to mark 152 on the scale. I hope that this helps. That is a great help ... thanks very much. I still have to try and reconcile the numbers/figures corresponding to the matrix "objective" and "okular" co-ordinates ... not sure how to apply these but will give them further thought. Cheers dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frederics Posted April 2, 2009 Share #12 Posted April 2, 2009 Wonderful set up. Wish they still made things with that kind of attention & workmanship today! Best, F Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share #13 Posted April 2, 2009 Have been searching to try and find if there are any links to Susan Allen but so far nothing found ... and she may not have been the original owner if she acquired the instrument secondhand. Also tried to find a link to the original Swiss supplier/dealer but no luck there either. If anyone has any information about the Swiss supplier can you please advise ... perhaps may have subsequently been an agent for Leica cameras in the mid 1920s?? Cheers dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted April 2, 2009 Share #14 Posted April 2, 2009 That is a great help ... thanks very much. I still have to try and reconcile the numbers/figures corresponding to the matrix "objective" and "okular" co-ordinates ... not sure how to apply these but will give them further thought. Cheers dunk A bit of terminology: The ocular is the lens facing the eye, i.e. the one inserted into the top of the tube. The objective is the lens facing the object to be viewed. The microscope is equiped with a revolving turret or 'revolver' with which you can exchange the objective quickly. The matrix shows that there are (or used to be) three objectives and five oculars provided with the microscope. Each of the objectives has a different magnifying power (20x, 62.6x and 90x, respectively). Four of the oculars (or eye pieces) have different magnifying powers, and the factor by wich each magnifies the image is given in the column head of the matrix. Therefore, all numbers in the column labeled '12x' is twice the number in the column labeled '6x'. Hence, the matrix shows for each combination of objective and ocular the resulting magnification. There are two things about the matrix I do not understand: the column labeled '11' has values very close to the one labeled '6x': one is less, one is the same and one is more. Two of the objectives (rows) are headed by numbers. I do not know what these numbers indicate. The text I "translated" previously states that the magnification scales pertain at a particular tube length. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted April 2, 2009 Share #15 Posted April 2, 2009 Also tried to find a link to the original Swiss supplier/dealer but no luck there either. If anyone has any information about the Swiss supplier can you please advise ... Living in Switzerland, I did a quick Google for "Marcel Wiegandt" and found some hits. February 1911: Drame - Samedi après midi à Genève, M. Marcel Wiegandt, opticien, fut l'objet d'une tentative 'd'assassinat de la part de son employé nommé Wilhelm Leist (?) de Mayence, âgé de 40 ans. N'ayant pas reussi, Leist s'empoisonna. http://doc.rero.ch/lm.php?url=1000,25,1,19110206_028_04.pdf "Drama: this saturday afternoon a Mister Marcel Wiegandt, optician, became victim of an attempted assassination by his employee Wilhelm Leist in Geneva, aged 40 years. Having failed at killing his employer, Leist poisoned himself" In a list of agents selling Leitz equipment: http://www.science-info.net/docs/leitz/Leitz-Microtome-I.pdf 1947-1950 Marcel WIEGANDT, maître opticien Les Vnrables Matres de la Loge Fidlit et Prudence Apparently, an optician named Marcel Wiegandt was head of a Loge in Geneva. Not all that relevant, but somewhat interesting, I'd think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share #16 Posted April 2, 2009 A bit of terminology:The ocular is the lens facing the eye, i.e. the one inserted into the top of the tube. The objective is the lens facing the object to be viewed. The microscope is equiped with a revolving turret or 'revolver' with which you can exchange the objective quickly. The matrix shows that there are (or used to be) three objectives and five oculars provided with the microscope. Each of the objectives has a different magnifying power (20x, 62.6x and 90x, respectively). Four of the oculars (or eye pieces) have different magnifying powers, and the factor by wich each magnifies the image is given in the column head of the matrix. Therefore, all numbers in the column labeled '12x' is twice the number in the column labeled '6x'. Hence, the matrix shows for each combination of objective and ocular the resulting magnification. There are two things about the matrix I do not understand: the column labeled '11' has values very close to the one labeled '6x': one is less, one is the same and one is more. Two of the objectives (rows) are headed by numbers. I do not know what these numbers indicate. The text I "translated" previously states that the magnification scales pertain at a particular tube length. Thanks Pop ... very helpful ... will look more closely at the matrix ref magnifications. Cheers dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share #17 Posted April 2, 2009 Living in Switzerland, I did a quick Google for "Marcel Wiegandt" and found some hits. February 1911: Drame - Samedi après midi à Genève, M. Marcel Wiegandt, opticien, fut l'objet d'une tentative 'd'assassinat de la part de son employé nommé Wilhelm Leist (?) de Mayence, âgé de 40 ans. N'ayant pas reussi, Leist s'empoisonna. http://doc.rero.ch/lm.php?url=1000,25,1,19110206_028_04.pdf "Drama: this saturday afternoon a Mister Marcel Wiegandt, optician, became victim of an attempted assassination by his employee Wilhelm Leist in Geneva, aged 40 years. Having failed at killing his employer, Leist poisoned himself" In a list of agents selling Leitz equipment: http://www.science-info.net/docs/leitz/Leitz-Microtome-I.pdf 1947-1950 Marcel WIEGANDT, maître opticien Les Vnrables Matres de la Loge Fidlit et Prudence Apparently, an optician named Marcel Wiegandt was head of a Loge in Geneva. Not all that relevant, but somewhat interesting, I'd think. Thanks again Pop .. very interesting links ... is it "lodge" as in 'Masonic Lodge'? I do not speak/read French. Cheers dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted April 2, 2009 Share #18 Posted April 2, 2009 is it "lodge" as in 'Masonic Lodge'? I do not speak/read French. It is, indeed. I do not know the organisation of Masons or Freemasons, but the site referred to is a division(?) of the Swiss organisation of Freemasons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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