A microscope Charles Darwin gave his son Leonard and which has remained in the family for nearly 200 years is headed for auction in December. It is expected to fetch up to $480,000 (about R7m).
The instrument was designed by Charles Gould for the firm Cary around 1825 and is one of six surviving microscopes associated with the British naturalist, according to auction house Christie’s.
The date of its manufacture coincides with the time Darwin was studying zoophytes, organisms such as coral and sea anemone.
Later in his life, in 1858, there’s a wonderful letter that he writes to his eldest son saying young Lenny was dissecting at his microscope and he said: ‘Oh Papa, I should be so glad of this for my whole life.’
— James Hyslop, Christie’s
“It is just incredibly spine-tingling to look through this and see the microscopic world that Darwin would have seen in the 1820s and 30s,” James Hyslop, head of department, Scientific Instruments, Globes & Natural History, at Christie’s, said.
“Later in his life, in 1858, there’s a wonderful letter that he writes to his eldest son saying young Lenny was dissecting at his microscope and he said: ‘Oh Papa, I should be so glad of this for my whole life.’ It’s wonderful to have that family connection of Charles Darwin just before he becomes internationally famous.”
Darwin published his groundbreaking work On the Origin of Species in 1859.
The microscope will be offered at Christie’s Valuable Books & Manuscripts auction on December 15 and has a price estimate of $343,050 to $480,270 (about R5m to R7m).
“Charles Darwin is one of the biggest names in the history of science, and collectors for Darwiniana (relating to Darwin) are truly international in breadth,” Hyslop said.
— Reuters
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