Zentmayer Grand American Microscope
date: label: date made
content: about 1860
notes: label: Description
content: This monocular microscope was manufactured by Joseph Zentmayer. It has two wooden cases, one for housing the instrument and the second smaller case holds accessories. The accessories include two objectives housed in cylindrical brass cases marked W. Wales & Co. of Fort Lee, NJ and Wales and Wales. Also included are four eyepieces, a double nose piece and, a bulls eye condenser.
label: Description
content: Joseph Zentmayer (1826-1888) was a well-trained German instrument maker who, having been a Republican activist during the revolution of 1848, fled his homeland and immigrated to the United States. After opening a small instrument shop in Philadelphia in 1853, Zentmayer came to the attention of local physicians who were beginning to appreciate the value of microscopes for medical as well as scientific purposes. And, in time, his shop became a center where physicians, physicists, microscopists and mechanical engineers could come together to discuss instruments and observations.
label: Description
content: Zentmayer’s first microscopes were similar to the large instruments that Smith & Beck of London had been making since the late 1840s. This one, termed the Grand American, was produced from 1858 to 1876. The first example was made for J. Gibbons Hunt, a professor in the Medical School at the University of Pennsylvania. Another early example went to the Academy of Natural Sciences.
label: Description
content: This example is a monocular with coarse and fine focus, circular mechanical stage, and Lister limb holding a sub-stage condenser and a sub-stage mirror; the two legs of the trunnion rest on a circular plate that rests and turns on a tri-leg base. The inscription on one foot reads “J. Zentmayer / Maker / Philadelphia / No. 40.” There is also a wooden box with numerous eyepieces and objectives. This instrument dates from the early 1860s. New, it cost around $700, which was quite a lot at the time. The binocular version was even more expensive.
label: Description
content: Ref: Joseph Zentmayer, <i>Illustrated Price-List of Microscopes, Microscopic Apparatus, and Optical Instruments</i> (Philadelphia, [1874-1875]), pp. 7-11.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: Subject
content: Immigration
label: Subject
content: Microscopy
label: Subject
content: Medical
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2015.0099.01
label: accession number
content: 2015.0099
label: catalog number
content: 2015.0099.01
label: serial number
content: 40
objectType: label: Object Name
content: microscope
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 48 cm x 25.5 cm; 18 29/32 in x 10 1/32 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 47.7 cm x 27 cm x 26.2 cm; 18 25/32 in x 10 5/8 in x 10 5/16 in