Equipped with an accompanying mahogany box for storage, this brass compound microscope is reviewed in Gerard Turner's book The Great Age of the Microscope. The designer, James Simons of London, is described as a maker of scientific optical instruments.

According to Turner, the microscope is poorly designed and too massive for the foot to adequately support the weight and height of the body. Projecting from the foot is a solid brass pillar with a compass joint that attaches to a short arm holding the triangular-sectioned limb. At the base of the limb is a large plano-concave mirror with an adjustable collar, and a stage that contains a bulls-eye condenser with a focal length of about 150 millimeters. Also attached to the limb is the body tube, which contains four lenses including an eye lens, a pair of plano-convex lenses that are touching, and a bi-convex tube lens. The body tube has a straight and a telescoping section. Up to six objective lenses can be added to a plate dovetailed into the end of the nosepiece. To the right of the microscope is an illuminator that consists of a bi-convex lens and a candle.

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