ALEXIS MAGNY, CIRCA 1750

Details

A FRENCH CUFF-TYPE MICROSCOPE
Alexis Magny, circa 1750
the body tube supported on square brass column with markings 1-7, Hevelius screw for focus, nosepiece marked 1-4 for Lieberkuhn positions, the column on hinge rotating into horizontal positon, mirror, sprung stage signed faintly Magni invenit & Fecit [A Paris] Anno 1752 by acid etching, on square base with later lapis veneer, drawer of accessories including callipers and four objective lenses.
16in. (41cm.) high

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Lot Essay

Alexis Magny (c.1712-77) had once been suggested as the maker of the elaborate de Chaulnes group of microscopes (such as the Rothschild example sold Christie's, London, 8 July 1999, lot 184) on the mistaken interpretation of the paper he presented to the Acadmie des Sciences in 1751. He in fact based his microscope on the Duc de Chaulnes type, and completed in eight days a microscope that could be used in a sitting position by Stanislas Leszcynski, King of Poland (now in the museé Lorrain, Nancy).
The present microscope bears strong relation to one in the Golub collection, Berkeley, and another at the Science Museum, London.

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