This novel microscope was made by Filippo Bonanni, a seventeenth century Italian microscope designer. Bonanni was the author of Micrographia Curiosa an interesting (but now very rare) treatise on microscopy, which was published in 1691 at about the same time the horizontal microscope was invented.

Bonanni designed an ingenious rack and pinion mechanism to produce fine focus on this microscope, a very advanced feature for this time period. Bonanni's microscope also had many other advanced features, like the dual-lens substage condenser attached to the lamphouse that produced superior specimen illumination. The lamphouse, condenser, specimen stage and microscope body were attached to a single baseboard to ensure optical alignment and overall stability of the microscope. A spring-loaded stage was also added to secure the specimen to the stage, a necessary feature since the optical axis of the microscope was horizontal.

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