Ernst Gundlach - Microscope Maker

Gundlach was born in 1834 and emigrated to America in 1872, already a well known and accomplished optician. His objectives were considered among the best, especially when cost was a consideration and were already being sold in this country by Queen & Co. In 1876, Gundlach went to work for Bausch & Lomb, in Rochester, making many contributions to the emerging Bausch & Lomb line of stands. By 1878, he had severed his connection with Bausch & Lomb, and opened his own business in Rochester. Gundlach Optical Company remained in Rochester and continued to make Gundlach microscopes into the 20th century. However, Gundlach's exact relationship to this company is unclear. It is known that he had no connection to the company after 1895, and, instead, produced photographic lenses under the name "Gundlach Photo-Optical Co. In 1902, Gundlach Optical Company acquired Manhattan Optical Co. They manufactured microscopes under their new name, Gundlach-Manhattan Optical Co., a common example being a small case-mounted portable microscope. Ernst Gundlach returned to Germany around 1900.

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Gundlach's Physician's Microscope No. 1
Later called the "College Microscope"
Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, 1882

U.S. Patents

No. 182919, Improvement in Microscopes, Oct 3, 1876
A screw-thread coarse focus, parallel spring fine focus, swinging substage.

No. 198607, Stage for Microscope, Dec. 25, 1877
Sliding stage used on many Bausch & Lomb microscopes

No. 198914, Object glasses for Microscopes, Jan 1, 1878
Coverslip correction mechanism for objectives

No. 211507, Improvement in Microscope, Jan 21, 1879
Roller guide fine focus mechanism, glass stage plate, detachable object carrier, etc.

No. 222132, Eyepieces and Objectives, Dec 2, 1879
A triplet correction lens to be used in eyepieces.

19th century journal reprints

other microscope makers