Page 32 - pp-Suter-Miscellany
P. 32

The  Solomons  optical  firm  advertised  in  the
                              Ecclesiastical Gazette (an Anglican publication) in the
                              1860s.











































                                  From the Ecclesiastical Gazette, June 13, 1865

                              The  firm  enjoyed  prestigious  support,  as  evidenced
                              above.  Sir William Herschel wrote guidelines for Her
                              Majesty’s  ships  dredging  for  biological  material,  and
                              “opticians to the government” probably implies sales of
                              compasses,  barometers,  telescopes  and  binoculars  to
                              the  armed  forces.    Mid-century,  Sir  David  Brewster
                              also  sat  at  the  pinnacle  of  the  English  scientific
                              establishment;  Herschel originally  worked  in  England
                              as  an  influential  church  organist,  hence  was  doubly
                              well regarded by microscopically inclined clergy.

                              The Solomons business was strategically placed.  John
                              Murray, publisher of scientific works – including those
                              of Charles Darwin – was a few doors away.  Nobility
                              and gentry from far and wide stayed at Brown’s Hotel,
                              where T.H. Huxley’s “X Club” met to discuss the latest
                              ideas  in  biology.    Albermarle  Street  also  housed  the
   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37