Robert Hooke, Micrographia (1665)

The second text I looked at was Robert Hooke’s Micrographia an early edition of which is held in Special Collections. Hooke was a great advocate of microscopical study in the Restoration period and at the request of the Royal Society in 1665, he collated his microscopical observations to be published as Micrographia. In addition to describing what he observed through the microscope, Hooke included many detailed drawings of the objects he studied.

It was these original drawings which fascinated me the most. I had initially read a modern edition of Micrographia, which reproduced the images, but the detail and clarity of the engravings in the early edition was impressive. Several of the drawings fold out of the book, including one famous image of a flea. These images caught the imagination of readers in the Restoration period and being able to see an early printed copy of the book allowed me to share that sense of excitement.

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