The Quekett Microscopical Club

Little Imp Archival Series CD-ROMs

The Little Imp Archival Series CD-ROMs were meticulously compiled by Brian Bracegirdle and Steve Gill from hard-to-source catalogues and books related to microscopes and microscopy. The CD-ROMs are no longer available, but shortly before his demise Brian expressed the wish to have the Archival Series made freely available via the Quekett Microscopical Club website, and Steve Gill and Alan Wood have collaborated to make this possible. The text and images are exactly the same as on the CD-ROMs. Steve has updated the HTML and the JavaScript so that the files work with modern browsers and operating systems; they have been tested with Windows 10 (Version 1703) using Edge 15, Firefox 54, Google Chrome 59, Internet Explorer 11 and Opera 46.

• Twentieth Century Atlas of Microscopical Petrography (A13)
  Full text of the book by E. Howard Adye, published in 1906.
• Smith & Beck Delivery Books 1839–1865 (A3)
  Facsimile pages from two books, covering microscope serials 1–3232. Indexes of pages and names of customers are included, as are facsimiles of six catalogues issued between 1852 and 1864.
• R. & J. Beck Delivery Book (R. & J. Beck Part III 1872–1901) (A6)
  300 facsimile pages covering serials 3006–23041. A page index is included, with notes on the material. Also on the CD are facsimiles of illustrated catalogues of the ‘Universal’ stand [1867] and the ‘National’ [1869].
• R. & J. Beck Delivery Book (R. & J. Beck Part VI 1901–1936) (A9)
  106 Facsimile pages covering serials 23001–33200. A page index is included, as is the calendar facility described in A8. Three fully illustrated rare twentieth century catalogues are reproduced in full: 48 page catalogue of five microscopes [Star, British Student’s, London, Pathological, and Imperial]; 18 page ‘New catalogue of petrological and metallurgical microscopes and accessories’; 32 page ‘Beck metallurgical microscopes and apparatus’, which includes details of photomicrographic apparatus also.
• R. & J. Beck Production Books (R. & J. Beck Part II 1867–1898) (A5)
  540 Facsimile pages from three production books, covering microscope serials 4713–21569, showing name of workman, type of stand, dates of manufacture etc. A page index is included.
• R. & J. Beck Production Book (R. & J. Beck Part IV 1898–1908) (A7)
  206 Facsimile pages covering serials 21660–27839. A page index is included, as are facsimlies of the 12 page 1898/99 catalogue of ‘The British Student’s Microscope’, and the magnificent 58 page 1894 fully illustrated catalogue of microscopes, object glasses and accessories.
• R. & J. Beck Production Book (R. & J. Beck Part V 1908–1921) (A8)
  104 Facsimile pages covering serials 27840–33047, giving details similar to those in A5.
• R. & J. Beck Workshop Book (R. & J. Beck Part I 1864–1866) (A4)
  36 Facsimile pages of repairs made for some famous names, of a variety of scientific apparatus and instruments. Included also are facsimiles of two large-format and very fully illustrated catalogues – ophthalmic 1866, and telescopes, drawing instruments etc. 1867.
• Beck Microscopes & Accessories: 1865, 1888 (A16)
  48 Pages from the 1888 catalogue, plus 14 pages from Richard Beck’s 1865 book on using the firm’s products.
• Frederic Enock 1880 and Clarke & Page 1907 Catalogues (A14)
  Fred Enock’s 1880 catalogue of slides, and Clarke & Page’s 1907 catalogue of slides, microscopes, objectives, slide cabinets, dissecting instruments and mounting materials.
• Watson’s Microscope Record (A12)
  All issued numbers (47) together with indexes.
• Watson Sales/Delivery Book – Microscope Section 1879–1894 (A2)
  Facsimile pages from the only surviving sales register, showing who bought what; the first deliveries of the Edinburgh and Van Heurck are included.
  The Microcat Watson Dating Tables are included for many serial numbers from 333 through 154477. There are 4 dating tables:
  • Watson microscope stands dating table
  • Watson microscope objectives dating table
  • Watson microscope accessories dating table
  • Watson instruments dating table (mostly binoculars and telescopes)
• Zeiss Simple Microscope Delivery Book 1849–1851 and Zeiss Price Lists 1848–1881 (A10)
  The first six pages of Carl Zeiss’ first delivery book, covering simple microscope serials 1–144. Also included are six illustrations of premises and personalities, and facsimiles of all the pages in 22 price lists 1849–1881; the last is the first Zeiss illustrated list.
• Zeiss Compound Microscope Delivery Book 1857–1881 (A11)
  Pages 68–226 of the delivery book, covering compound stand serials 1–3749. Six other illustrations are included, with a page index.

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