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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
168 (Hartnack
& Prazmowski; microscope stand III-A; c. 1880)
The origins of Hartnack
& Prazmowski were in the Parisian optical business founded by Georg Oberhaeuser,
who popularised Martin’s drum microscope pattern and developed the
horseshoe-footed continental stand. Oberhaeuser began his business in c. 1830
(his shop was located at 19 Place Dauphine in 1832). In 1854, he formed a
partnership with his assistant Hartnack (who started working with Oberhaeuser
in 1847) and retired shortly afterwards in 1854. The business operated as
“Oberhaeuser and Hartnack” until 1859, when Hartnack became the sole owner
and the firm became simply “Hartnack”. Hartnack left France in 1870, at the
outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, and went to establish a business in
Potsdam, near Berlin, known as Hartnack. The Paris business continued as
“Hartnack et Cie” and, later, in 1873, Hartnack and Prazmowski (moving to 1
Rue Bonaparte). Prazmowski took sole ownership of the Paris business in 1878,
and later, in 1883, passed it on to his employees Bézu and Hausser. The firm
became “Bézu, Hausser et Cie”, although they continued to use Prazmowski’s
name until his death in 1885. They sold the business to Alfred Nachet in
1896. Hartnack’s Potsdam business continued after his death until well into
the 1900s. Microscope 168 was made by Hartnack & Prazmowski, was
known as stand III-A (Figure 1) and can be dated to c. 1880. The serial
number 20565 is engraved on the original wooden box. The instrument contains
a simple substage, as stand III, and an extension from the rear for increased
stability when the instrument is inclined. The draw tube of the microscope is
engraved with ‘Mon E. Hart. & A. Praz., A. Prazmowski sucr,
Rue Bonaparte 1, Paris’. There is no indication of serial number in the
instrument.
Figure
1. Hartnack & Prazmowski’s stand III-A microscope as
engraved in William Rutherford’s “Outlines of Practical Histology” (1875) References Georg Johann Oberhäuser / Georges Jean Oberhaeuser, 1798-1868; Friedrich Edmund Hartnack, 1826-1891; Adam Prażmowski, 1821-1885 (http://microscopist.net/Oberhaeuser.html), last accessed on 21/01/2021 E. Hartnack: Kleines Hufeisenmikroskop (http://www.museum-optischer-instrumente.de/Hartnack_11186.html), last
accessed on 21/01/2021 Bézu, Hausser, and Company, 1883 – 1896 (http://microscopist.net/BezuHausser.html), last
accessed on 21/01/2021 Hartnack & Prazmowsky (Bezu & Haussier Suc.rs) model IIIA , Paris 1885-1896 (http://www.igm.cnr.it/1/pagine-personali/maga-giovanni/maga-microscopes/hartnack/), last accessed on 21/01/2021 Sigmund Freud’s microscope – on the 150th birthday anniversary of the histologist (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artoct06/mc-freud.html), last accessed on 21/01/2021 HARTNACK Friedrich Edmund, 1826-1891, PRAZMOWSKI Adam 1821-1885 (http://histoiredumicroscope.com/hartnack-prazmowski/), last accessed on 21/01/2021 OBERHAUSER Georges, 1798-1868, HARTNACK Friedrich Edmund, 1826-1891 (http://histoiredumicroscope.com/hartnack-e-suc-oberhauser-g/), last accessed on 21/01/2021 View from the dog house (https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2020/11/view-from-the-dog-house/), last accessed on 21/01/2021 LAST
EDITED: 05.05.2021 |
