Snapshots of the Past

[Compound microscope as rendered by artist in Descartes La Dioptrique"]" – Antique Print

[Compound microscope as rendered by artist in Descartes La Dioptrique"]" — historic print
[Compound microscope as rendered by artist in Descartes La Dioptrique"]". Historic print from the Astrology & Magic collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This rare historic print captures [Compound microscope as rendered by artist in Descartes La Dioptrique"]" in remarkable detail. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

[Compound microscope as rendered by artist in Descartes La Dioptrique"]"

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A compound microscope, with its tube and lens arrangement, is the subject of this woodcut from René Descartes's *La Dioptrique*. The treatise was one of three essays published in 1637 alongside his *Discourse on the Method*, and it explained how light bends through lenses. At a time when microscopes were still new and rough in design, Descartes used such diagrams to reason about how lens shapes and placement could sharpen magnified images. The engraved figure shows the instrument as a working device, not a decorative object, which is part of what makes it useful for studying early optics.

Medium1 print : woodcut.
Notes[1637]
SubjectsMicroscopes--1630-1640.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan3,314 × 4,096 px · prints to 11 × 14 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-186857

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