Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek microscope replicas

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723) was a Dutch microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa, and is many times referred to as the father of microbiology. Leeuwenhoek made microscopes consisting of a single high-quality lens of very short focal length. At the time, such simple microscopes were preferable to the compound microscope, which increased the problem of chromatic aberration. Van Leeuwenhoek’s methods of microscopy remain something of a mystery. During his lifetime he made more than 500 lenses, most of which were very small (no larger than a pinhead) and usually mounted them between two thin brass plates, riveted together. A large sample of those lenses were found to have magnifying powers in the range of 50 to, at the most, 300 times. These are two replicas of an antique Antoni van Leeuwenhoek microscope, made in 2021, illustrating the most common type of microscopes made and used by Van Leeuwenhoek. The replicas are made of brass and contain 3 mm diameter glass beads as lens, enclosed within two brass plates riveted together. One of the replicas was aged with antiquing fluid. This type of microscope is the “standard” Van Leeuwenhoek microscope, and widely illustrated in books, textbooks, webpages and other sources on biology, microbiology, microscopy, and other subjects. Figure 1 shows a drawing of one of these microscopes, made by the English microscopist John Mayal in 1886, based on an original Leeuwenhoek microscope that belonged to the Zoological Laboratories at the University of Utrecht. Van Leeuwenhoek made more than 270 single-lens microscopes, and most of these were listed in the 1747 auction catalogue when all his little lenses and microscopes were sold after the death of Van Leeuwenhoek’s daughter Maria, and 24 years after Van Leeuwenhoek’s death. Three of these microscopes were known to be made of gold, but the majority were made of silver or brass. Most microscopes were lost through the times and, today, only eleven microscopes are known and recognised as original Van Leeuwenhoek microscopes and exhibited in several museums such as the Boerhaave Museum in Leiden. Van Leeuwenhoek made and used other types of microscopes to observe and study different types of samples, including dual- and three-lenses microscopes and eel/fish viewers. Figure 2 below shows a selection of replicas of these microscopes making part of this collection.

Figure 1. Drawing of an original Van Leeuwenhoek’s microscope (adapted from “Mayall J. 1886. Leeuwenhoek’s Microscopes. Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society 6: 1047 – 1049”).

Figure 2. Replicas of different types of microscopes associated with Antoni van Leeuwenhoek: (A) Standard type of single-lens microscope; (B) Dual lenses microscope; (C) Three-lenses microscope; (D) Aquatic/eel viewer microscope; (E) Eel viewer/showcase for visitors microscope; and (F) Fish viewer microscope.