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The papers are divided into three groups, the first being mainly bibliographical: (1) 'Micrographia historica: the study of the history of the microscope' (1972); (2) 'The history of optical instruments: a brief survey of sources and modern studies' (1969); and (3) 'The history of the microscope: an essay review of P. Harting, "Das Mikroskop (1866)"' (1970). The bibliographies are comprehensive and offer guides to collections as well as the literature; in paper (2) the bibliography for the microscope has been updated to 1979. The second group of papers examines the construction and use of the microscope, and is very wide-ranging in scope; (4) 'Decorative tooling on 17th and 18th century microscopes and telescopes' (1966); (5) 'The rise and fall of the jewel microscope 1824-1837' (1968)' (6) 'Powell & Lealand: trade mark of perfection' (1966); (7) 'Dr M. C. Cooke's microscope designed by W. Moginie' (1978); (8) 'The contributions to science of Friedrich Adolph Nobert' (1967); and (9) 'The microscope as a technical frontier in science' (1967). Paper (4) yields important results from a detailed antiquarian study of gold tooling on 17th-century optical instruments and highlights some of the errors which can be made, as in Clay and Court, when a superficial approach is taken. Papers (5)-(7) are mainly concerned with the development and use of the microscope as a scientific instrument, while paper (8) explains the impact of the use of Nobert's ruled test plates on the microscope in the 19th century. Not only did these provide an absolute standard for measuring resolution, but they were also a great incentive for instrument makers because, as soon as the lines on a test plate had been resolved, Nobert promptly ruled a finer grating. This continued until 1873, when Nobert ruled such a fine test plate that the resolution needed was beyond the theoretical limit for the optical microscope; this plate has since been studied under the electron microscope by Turner and... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]