John Thomas Quekett was an English microscopist and histologist born on August 11, 1815, in Somerset. Raised and educated by his grammar school master father, Quekett gave his first course of lectures on microscopic subjects at the age of sixteen before apprenticing to his surgeon brother Edwin and studying at King's College, London, and London Hospital medical school. While on a three-year studendship in human and comparative anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Quekett made his most notable microscopical preparations. He was appointed Assistant Conservator of the Hunterian Museum in 1843, and Conservator in 1856. While there, he produced over 16,000 preparations, many of which were damaged during the Blitz. He also produced new types of microscopes.

Quekett is one of the seventeen founding members of the Microscopical Society of London, along with his brother Edwin; he served as honorary secretary from 1841 until 1860, when he was elected President, a position he held until his death in 1861. His most well known work, 1848's Practical Treatise on the Use of the Microscope, helped popularize microscopy and eventually the study of optics. Because of this, Quekett was made a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1857 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1860.

He died in 1861 at the age of 46. Four years later, the Quekett Microscopical Club was formed and named in his honor, and continues to dedicate itself to the interests of amateur microscopists.

Physical description

64 items.

Provenance

Purchased from Myers (£57.50) and accessioned, 04/16/1971 (1971 442ms).

• Drawings.

• Hilton, James
• Huxley, Julian, 1887-1975
• Pethereck, John
• Quekett, John,1815-1861.
• South, James, Sir
• Wormald, Thomas

• Medicine -- Research -- Great Britain.