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I hope you enjoy your visit to my website and exploring these fascinating Antique Microscope Slides from a bygone era. They offer a glimpse of an earlier age, although the subjects of many are as relevant today as they were back when they were originally created.  I find them interesting from many different perspectives... including the inherent Scientific Interest of many of them, their undeniable beauty as Works of Art and Craftsmanship, and certainly their significance as important Historical Scientific Artifacts worthy of preservation and study. They are perhaps a unique nexus combining these very different ways of percieving or viewing the natural world.

My name is Howard Lynk, and this website has been a wonderful opportunity for me to bring together and focus several of my longtime interests. These include amateur microscopy, history of science, photography, and computer technology. The site originally started as a way to introduce my grandchildren to the wonders hidden within my antique microscope slide collection. I  was encouraged by several associates to consider sharing it with other interested individuals via an open website. You are viewing the result!  While antique Victorian Microscope Slides may be considered a somewhat arcane or esoteric interest by many, the work and insights of the original makers, represented by these surviving slides, truly helped lay the foundation of our modern world and culture. The remarkable advances that quickly followed in science, technology, and medicine, with the resulting enhanced quality of life, can be traced back and are all directly related to these pioneering individual's contributions and efforts.
The antique slides shown on the site are from my own collection, as well as those of several other interested collectors. Research into these slides and the individuals who made them is an ongoing pursuit, with any new insights being documented and made available through several different publications, including the pages of this website. My thanks to the individuals who have been willing to share their knowledge and resources in the continuing effort to further the identification, preservation, and documentation of these scientific artifacts.
For those interested in such details, the tools and equipment I use include: My workhorse microscope is a vintage Leitz Orthoplan from the late 1960s, outfitted with a variety of useful Leitz lenses and accessories patiently sought out and acquired over a number of years via the used market or eBay. Macro photography of the slide groups is primarily accomplished using a Nikon Coolpix 995 (3.3MP) digital camera on a modified B&L stereo microscope boom stand. Some macro slide images (specifically, engraved label all glass mounts) have also been acquired using an HP Scanner with black background backing paper to enhance the engraving. Most of the photomicrographs were taken using a Nikon Coolpix 5000 (5MP) digital camera mounted to the photoport of the Orthoplan via a Leitz 30mm 10x Periplan WF ocular. Recently, I have acquired and begun to use a Sony NEX~7 (24MP) for the image acquisition process. A "pencil" type fiber-optic illuminator is sometimes used for additional reflected "spot" light illumination of specimens when needed. Images are cropped and prepared using various graphics programs such as Photoshop when necessary, although I do try to keep photo modification and manipulation to a minimum.
Thanks again for your interest, and please contact me via email if you have suggestions, questions or comments...