Superb British Smith & Beck microscope bought by US collector for £38,000 in Berkshire auction
Surviving records for the London instrument maker Smith & Beck state this superb microscope from the brass and glass era was purchased on September 2, 1853, by Francis Herbert Wenham (1824-1908) – the British engineer who became a key figure in the improvement of the microscope.
He is credited with inventing the ‘Wenham binocular’ arrangement that was copied by almost all lat…