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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
271 (J Parkes
& Son; Travelling microscope; c1880) Based in Birmingham,
England, Parkes produced good quality microscopes and other scientific
equipment and supplies from the mid-1800s until well into the twentieth
century. Recognizing the burgeoning market of students and middle-class
amateurs, they focused on inexpensive instruments. James Parkes began
his business in 1815 as a manufacturer of small items such as jewellery cases
and other metal devices. James’ only son, Samuel, became a partner in about
1846, forming J Parkes and Son. By the 1850s, J. Parkes and Son were
producing a variety of microscopes. Their 1857 catalogue prominently featured
microscopes and prepared slides. Large numbers are known of later microscope
models that were manufactured by J Parkes and Son but sold by other
retailers. Samuel continued the business under the same name after his
father’s death in 1877. Samuel had only one son, also named Samuel. That son,
and a nephew, James Moulton, continued the business after the elder Samuel
died in 1896. Moulton left the partnership in 1908, and Samuel T.H. Parkes
continued alone for a number of additional years, at
least until the late 1920s. Microscope 271 is signed “JAS Parkes & Son,
Birmingham” and, in the same plate, there is a reference to ‘B Bonnington’ (probably a retailer for this microscope).
The instrument is a travelling microscope and should be dated to c. 1880. The
microscope came with a wooden box with a plate labelled ‘Microscope’.. References J. Parkes and Son (http://microscopist.net/ParkesJ.html), last accessed on
12.08.2020 LAST
EDITED: 02.10.2022 |