This microscope is a Carl Zeiss (Jena) Large Microscope Stand No.1B, SN 65207, manufactured in 1914. The microscope was made entirely by Carl Zeiss, but was sold in the US by Bausch & Lomb (Rochester, NY). At the turn of the 20th Century Zeiss entered into a cooperative agreement with B&L and Sägmüller (English: Saegmuller) to manufacture and sell optical equipment to the US government, starting first with binoculars then expanding into other optical equipment including microscopes. This instrument in the Golub Collection is a fine example of instruments arising from that cooperation. During that time B&L added its logo to the instruments it sold in the US. On this microscope you can see the B&L logo on the top of the fine adjustment block as well as the eyepiece-barrels. All parts were undoubtedly made by Zeiss however; attested by the various "Carl Zeiss, Jena" logos on the stand, stage, and eyepiece.

This microscope is a black lacquered upright compound microscope on a horseshoe base. The stand has an oval cutout for handling the instrument, which is the source of the nickname "jug-handle base". It has a rotating stage with X/Y mechanical movement, a three position nosepiece, a rack and pinion coarse focus adjust and a Bergen fine focus mechanism. Two eyepiece configurations come with this microscope. Originally it was sold with a monocular eyepiece. Later, c1922, a binocular/stereoscopic eyepiece was added to the instrument. This style of binocular is a so-called "Bitumi", introduced in 1920. The binocular configuration of this microscope was quite common, as there are illustrations of them on this very stand dating from 1920, shortly before the jug-handle was discontinued. The condenser is an Abbe-type with an additional upper iris diaphragm. There are two sets of objectives. Three are apparently older (possibly originally supplied with the instrument). Four additional are achromatic, high NA and high magnification. The microscope is 42.5cm tall.

Here are two Zeiss 1B stands of the same period: one was sold via an agency in Paris and thus had the name of the dealer in Paris on the wooden case. This is another example of a very fine "Jug-Handle" style Carl Zeiss microscope.

I am indebted to Timo Mappes for his help in describing this interesting microscope.

Featured 06/2011; 03/2022