Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Microscope 617 (John Browning; pocket microscope; c. 1875)

John Browning (1831 - 1925) was a renowned maker of optical instruments, particularly high-quality spectroscopes. After apprenticing under his father, Spencer Browning, he joined the family business and assumed sole ownership in 1856. Under John’s leadership, the company shifted its focus away from nautical instruments toward scientific and optical devices, especially spectroscopes. By 1866, Browning was operating from 1 Norfolk Street, London. In 1868, his business was located at 111 Minories, with an additional shop at 6 Vine Street. In 1872, he moved the business to 63 Strand, where it remained until around 1901. Although Watson & Sons acquired the company in 1900, Browning continued working with the firm until his retirement in 1905. Following the acquisition, the business continued to trade under the name John Browning Ltd until 1945. The company operated from 146 Strand from 1901 to at least 1914, then from 37 Southampton Street between 1922 and 1923, and 188 Strand from 1923 onward. Microscope 617 is engraved with “John Browning, London, 298” and represents the firm’s “New Pocket” microscope (Figure 1). The instrument should be dated to c. 1875. The microscope stands on a folding tripod with one leg as the limb. Coarse focus is by sliding the optical tube, and there is a fine focus from the top by fine screw acting on the stage.

Figure 1. Browning’s pocket microscope as featured in “The Popular Science Review: A Quarterly Miscellany of Entertaining and Instructive Articles on Scientific Subjects, 1870”.