Microscopes: 19th-century children’s books

The selection of the Whipple Library's books on microscopes that was displayed in the Reserve Gallery focused on nineteenth-century books intended for young readers. Two of the books are by Mrs Mary Ward (1827–1869), an Irish microscopist, astronomer, naturalist and artist, and the first woman to publish a book on the microscope. Originally published as Sketches with the microscope, the book was later republished as the World of wonders revealed by the microscope (1858). Ward illustrated all her own books, as well as those of other scientists, and an example of this aspect of her work is also shown here.