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C. BakerCatalogue of Microscopes and Accessories1911Section 1. Part 1. |
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C. BakerCatalogue of Microscopes and Accessories1911Section 1. Part 1. |
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Address mostly given as 244 High Holborn, London, but sometimes 243 and 245, sometimes in combination (1856 Second Edition of Hoggs - The Microscope: Its History, Construction and Applications being an example where the bound in catalogue specifies the address as Nos. 243 & 244 High Holborn, London). The firm of C. Baker is specified as being established in 1765 which, considering Charles Bakers birth year means that he took over an existing business. We have been unable to locate an earlier date, not locating an entry in the Catalogue of the Great Exhibition in 1851. Charles Baker (1820-1894). C. Baker was a manufacturer of microscopes and accessories of considerable variety as evidenced by the large number of catalogues produced throughout the company’s life. When Charles Baker died in 1894 the firm continued under the same name but run by the Curties family until it became, in 1936, Charles Baker & Co. and subsequently, in 1940, C. Baker of Holborn Ltd. Instrument works were at Balham until 1945 and after at Purley Way, Croydon where it was when it was eventually merged into Vickers Instruments Ltd (part of the Vickers Group), in 1959 (as was Cooke, Troughton & Simms Ltd in 1963 [Note:-This was released to the press as an amalgamation between Cooke, Troughton & Simms Ltd and C. Baker of Holborn Ltd]), when, to maintain its respected roots, it was renamed C. Baker Instruments Ltd. However, in the mid 50s, a small subsidiary was formed by one of the Curties family (Michael Curties) which hived off the sales and instrument repair side of the business retaining the High Holborn premises but named Rekab Instruments Ltd. (Rekab being Baker - backwards). The first advertisement for Rekab we have come across is in The Microscope January/February 1957 Vol. 11. No. 4 - This specifies the company to be a subsidiary of C. Baker of Holborn Ltd.) also an Advertisement in The Microscope March/April 1957 in the Small advertisements - ‘Polarising prisms in larger sizes: state dimensions - our offer by return. Rekab Instruments Ltd., 244 High Holborn, London, W.C.1.’ This company was not included in the Vickers acquisition and continued until sometime in the mid 60s. A ‘Note on the Mechanical Construction of the Microscope’ appeared in the Quekett Journal Vol. 25, pages 322-323. Science Gossip December 1880 inside rear cover/February 1881, January 1875 inside front cover Advertisement with address of 244 & 245 High Holborn, London. Advertisement in The Microscope January February 1940 inside front cover advertising Moller and Dalton slides at 244 High Holborn, London, W.C.1. Advertisement in The Microscope March/April 1957 giving address of C. Baker of Holborn Ltd as Merton Works, Purley Way, Croydon, Surrey. On 4th December 1867 at a Conversazione organised by the Birmingham and Midland Institute at the Town Hall ‘Mr Baker of High Holborn’ had an exhibit table on the Ground Floor (Table 1.) Shared with ‘Mr. Jas. How, Foster Lane, London’ displaying Microscopes.  circa 1864 Present at a Royal Microscopical Society meeting on 27th November 1889 exhibiting Samoan Deposit and a number of new objectives and accessories. Present at a RMS meeting 30th April 1890 exhibiting - Zeiss accessories and stands. Nature November 1st 1906, November 15th 1906, November 29th 1906, December 13th 1906, December 27th 1906, January 10th 1907, January 24th 1907, February 7th 1907, February 21st 1907March 7th 1907, March 21st 1907, April 4th 1907, April 18th 1907, April 28th 1910, May 12th 1910, May 26th 1910, June 9th 1910 Advertisement giving address as 244 High Holborn, London Nature March 3rd 1910 Advertisement for New D.P.H. Travelling Microscope address 244 High Holborn. States ‘Established 1765’. Advertisement English Mechanic and World of Science February 9th 1912 address 244 High Holborn, London. In 1896 Baker appears as a customer of Elizabeth Eleanor Dancer. It is not indicated what price was being paid by the company for micro-photographs but it was likely to be in the region of 7/6d per dozen, the retail value of which was 12/-. Was also a subscription agent for Volume 1 for Arthur C. Coles - Studies in Microscopical Science (1882) from 244 High Holborn, W.C.      |
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Inside front cover 
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