London: The microscope Charles Darwin gave to his son Leonard and that has remained in the family for nearly 200 years is headed for auction in December. It is expected to sell for $480,000.
According to auction house ‘Christie’s’, this microscope was designed by Charles Gould for the firm Cary around 1825 and is one of six surviving microscopes associated with the British naturalist. It was manufactured during Darwin’s study of zoophytes, organisms such as coral and sea anemone. ‘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,’ said James Hyslop, Head of Department, Scientific Instruments, Globes & Natural History, at Christie’s.
‘Later in his life in 1858, there’s a wonderful letter that he wrote 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 connexion of Charles Darwin just before he becomes internationally famous.’
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Darwin’s groundbreaking work ‘On the Origin of Species’ was published in 1859.
Christie’s Valuable Books & Manuscripts auction will feature the microscope on Dec. 15, with an estimated price of 250,000 – 350,000 pounds ($343,050 – $480,270). ‘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.
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