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The Billings Microscope Collection of the Medical Museum Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. James Hansen et al [Second and Preferred Edition]

This is the preferred second edition 1974 of this standard reference for antique microscope collectors and those interested in antique scientific instruments generally. It contains 32 additional pages of microscopes to the first published in 1967.

The existence of this collection which maybe rivals that of the London Microscopical Society is down to Lieutenant John S Billings a medical officer in the US Amy who was put in charge of the Army Medical Museum. He did a magnificent job and must have been well financed and supported. He built the heart of the collection between 1883 and 1993 [couldn’t be a better period}. The result has been augmented over the year from donations and acquisitions.

Softcover quarto, 244 pages, 4 colour plates and 473 black and white photographs of examples. Very good condition … the covers might look marked but it is just the trendy arty finish.

A brief history of the microscope is followed by a three part catalogue. Part I … contains the collection acquired by Billings and later donations etc up until 1966. Part II represents a significant collected added from Europe in 1966 – the Kaas Collection. Part II are the important additions since the first printing.

Billings and essential scientific reference – the best edition .

$90.00

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The Comedians – Graham Greene – First Edition 1966

First edition published by The Bodley Head, London in 1966. Octavo, 313 pages. Very good condition. First edition variant dust jacket designed by James and Ruth McCrea.

Described as a novel, not an entertainment, if you understand the Greene definition.

Classic Graham Greene novel based in Haiti at the time of dictator Doctor Duvalier “Papa Doc”. Greene could not return to Haiti to finish his novel because of his description of the dictator in the English press. As usual alive with characters and suspense and sometimes comedy.

First edition Greene Classic

$50.00

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“Society of Arts” Victorian Brass Microscope with Case – c1860-70

A quality fully working English brass microscope from around 1860-70.

With the early V shaped bar for rack and pinion focus and fine adjustment knurled knob. Two objectives both multiple compounding. There is also Live Box for observing creepy crawlies. The concave mirror is in very good condition. The original mahogany case is a quality box, original to the instrument and in very good condition, with separate drawer for slides and bits and pieces. The case still has its original lock and its key, often long lost. The microscope is mounted on a rectangular mahogany board which slides into the case.

Very similar to the example presented by Peter Turner FRMS to the Royal Microscopical Society catalogued as number 92 in authority Turner.

In the early 1850’s the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce offered a prize for the design of a compact compound microscope that could sell for 3 guineas. The design, which is reflected here, was won by Robert Fields & Son of Birmingham in 1854. Due to the popularity of the design it was copied by others but often at a higher price. These copies were often unsigned as is the case here. However, the brass foot is very much in the style of Ross so we suspect it came from that maker.

Nice 19th Century Cased Brass Microscope..

$590.00

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Service with a Smile – P.G. Wodehouse – First Edition

First edition published by Herbert Jenkins in 1962.

Octavo, 192 pages. Very good condition albeit with some light age marks to page edges … clean and bright inside. Good dust jacket with closed split near front hinge

Uncle Fred sorting out the upper crust as usual and importantly stops the theft of the Empress of Blandings (A portly pig) whose beautiful image adorns the front cover.

Wodehouse First and a rollicking story.

$50.00

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Dodsworth – Sinclair Lewis (First American Nobel Laureate for Literature)

First published in 1929 this is the 1947 Modern Library edition with a special foreword by Clifton Fadiman.

Octavo, 377 pages all in very good condition.

The author Harry Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930.

Sam Dodsworth makes a fortune selling his automotive business and with his younger glamorous wife, Fran, heads for a summer in Europe. Soon they find that their different interests drive them apart … Fran enjoying the high party life whilst Sam’s interests lie in history and culture. Fran falls for an admirer and that’s the end of the relationship. Sam has a more enduring meeting ..

Dodsworth a special story – readable and with meaning.

$25.00

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Australian Mammals – Trade Cards over 100 Years Old

A group of six brightly coloured trade cards by Liebig advertising their delightful food products. Printed and issued from 1904-1910.

Six delightful card chromolithographs of 1 the dingo and spotted quoll 2. the echidna and the Tasmanian devil 3. The wombat and the Tasmanian tiger (Buidelwolf) 4. The sea elephant and sea lion 5. Fruit bats looking for fruit 6 the kangaroo rat and the wallaby. 0cms x 7.3cms.

Price $80.00 the group

A nice early set of mammals with the desired no longer living Tasmanian Tiger

$60.00

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All products

The Billings Microscope Collection of the Medical Museum Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. James Hansen et al [Second and Preferred Edition]

The Comedians – Graham Greene – First Edition 1966

“Society of Arts” Victorian Brass Microscope with Case – c1860-70

Service with a Smile – P.G. Wodehouse – First Edition

Dodsworth – Sinclair Lewis (First American Nobel Laureate for Literature)

Australian Mammals – Trade Cards over 100 Years Old

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