This simple compound microscope was probably made by Charles Baker, a popular London instrument maker and optician, sometime around the beginning of the twentieth century.

The microscope is very simple in design and execution, having as its main features a compound body tube that is rack-focused up and down with respect to the circular specimen stage that will rotate. A pair of spring clips serve to hold the sample in place on the stage, and the substage condenser has a small degree of movement freedom. A concave mirror situated beneath the condenser acts to concentrate light on the specimen. This design motif was very popular at the beginning of the twentieth century and historians have uncovered an abundance of similar microscopes made during this period.

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