We have been trading Antiques on eBay for 18 years (richieathome) and have specialized in microscope slides and related items over the past two decades. We pride ourselves in being able to bring fresh specimen slides to the market to satisfy a range of buyers, from a new generation of collectors, artists, photographers, academics, and students, to established collectors, looking for rare items to add to their collections. We have an excellent network of contacts, worldwide.
Whilst specimen slides for the microscope have been around for 200 + years, the Victorian period saw the heyday of producing high-quality slides for a large market of scientists, academics, and the curious Victorian middle classes. Microscope slides from this era were produced in large quantities, with an immense variety of subject matter and mounting techniques. They are often very beautifully decorated, skillfully produced by professional makers and often displaying individually coloured, decorative papers, multicoloured cement rings, and delicately handwritten labels, sometimes with very detailed descriptions of the subject, location and mounting technique. They can be items of surprising beauty, even before they are put under the microscope for examination of the specimen.