Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Library telescope from Dollond (c. 1850)

Library telescope engraved with ‘Dollond, London’. This instrument should be dated to c. 1850. The Dollond business started in 1750 by Peter Dollond in Spitalfields, London. He was soon joined by his father John Dollond, in 1752, and together moved to The Strand in 1759. Peter moved to St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, in 1765 and, in 1766, Peter’s younger brother John Dollond Jr. became a partner. John Dollond Jr. died in 1804 and in the following year Peter formed a partnership with his nephew, George Huggins (who changed his name to George Dollond). Peter did not have any surviving sons and the business was passed to his nephew and business partner George Huggins Dollond in 1819. George died in 1852 and left the business to his nephew, also named George Huggins, who then changed his surname to Dollond. This second George died in 1866, leaving the business to his son, William Dollond. William sold the Dollond business in 1871 to John Chant, a former employee, and the name became ‘Dollond & Co’. By that time, the company focussed on products such as binoculars and eyeglasses and most microscopes sold appear to have been made by other manufacturers. Sometime afterward, Chant took Tyson Crawford as a partner. The company’s address was 59 St Paul’s Churchyard until about 1869, and 1 Ludgate Hill in the 1870s – 1890s. The partnership was dissolved in 1892 and Tyson Crawford continued the business as Dollond & Co. In 1909 the company was located at 35 Ludgate Hill. In 1927, the company was acquired by James Aitchison, becoming ‘Dollond and Aitchison’. Other owners followed, until the 2009 acquisition by Boots Optical. The Dollond business name ended in 2015 when the owner Boots Optical rebranded all of their Dollond and Aitchison shops as ‘Boots’.