Franklin and His Friends: Portraying the Man of Science in Eighteenth-Century America"

Culpeper-type microscope
Eighteenth century
Courtesy National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

This form of microscope, with the stable, three-legged stand, was introduced around 1720 by Edmund Culpeper, a successful instrument maker in London. Culpeper's design proved popular in America as well as in England, and remained in production for about one hundred years. The Culpeper is a compound instrument, which means it has two lenses, an objective, and an eyepiece.

Title image: Gregorian reflecting telescope made in London by James Short for John Winthrop/Courtesy Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts

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