Index

Microscope Plössl (c.1845)

Georg Simon Plössl was born on September 19, 1794 in Wieden, near Vienna. Son of a carpenter, he learned to turn wood during an apprenticeship from 1807 to 1811. In 1812 he began working with the optical firm Voigtlaender until he founded his own workshop in 1823. After serious startup problems, Plössl's business flourished and it moved to larger stores in 1831 and 1835, eventually employing 36 workers.

In these years he improved the quality of achromatic microscope objectives and developed the fine adjustment of microscope eyepieces by introducing a fine pitch screw. Like Kellner's optics of Wetzlar, Germany, Plössl microscopes were essential in advancing medical science research. Plössl received the Gold Medal of Honor for Arts and Sciences in 1847. He died on January 30, 1868 in Vienna after suffering a serious injury caused by a falling sheet of glass that severed the artery near his right hand. , in the same place where he was born.

This microscope model is the largest of those built by Plössl, also known as number 1. Made in Vienna around 1845, it has a large number of accessories, starting with an objective with 7 lenses that can be superimposed to increase magnification and 5 eyepieces, one of them with maximum luminosity. Focusing by using a rack and pinion system and features a very characteristic Plössl fine adjustment mechanism under the pillar. It includes a prism, which functions as a camera lucida, called Sömmering's drawing mirror, tweezers, a magnifying glass, a livebox, a compressor, and a deflator prism. It bears the characteristic signature on the main tube. Both the microscope and the box are in exceptional condition.

References: "Billings Microscope Collection" pag 91, fig. 170

G. Turner, Collecing Microscopes, pag 88

Links: http://www.antique-microscopes.com/photos/B_L_physicians_microscope_2188.htm

http://www.antique-microscopes.com/photos/B_L_physicians_microscope_1078.htm

http://ar.utmb.edu/ar/Default.aspx?tabid=329

http://www.arsmachina.com/bl1880.htm

http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/micro/bausch.htm