69x silver
| Magnification | 69x | | | Aperture in plates | 0.87 mm |
| Body plates | 39 mm x 22 mm | | | Pitch of main positioning screw | 0.60 mm |
This microscope is #7 in van Zuylen and Bracegirdle.
Known as the Maitland microscope.
The 69x silver microscope has a Dutch silver hallmark that proves that this microscope was sold at auction between 1814 and 1831.
Around 1850, Robert Thomas Maitland bought it at an auction in Leiden. Maitland mentioned it in a letter, dated June 1875, in the archives of the Nederlandsche Dierkundige Vereeniging (no. 82a), which was cited by Van Zuylen, "On the microscopes", p. 169.
In 1859, Harting investigated its provenance. Apparently satisfied, he included it in the commemorative exhibit of 1875 (Lijst no. 62).
In 1881, it was sold together with Maitland’s Iconographia Zoologica to the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam.
In the late 1970's, it was acquired under questionable circumstances by an employee of Artis.
In 1982, it was included in the Boerhaave exhibition of the then-eight extant microcopes.
In 2009, it was sold at auction by Christie's in London.
Its present location is unknown.
