We have developed a near-field scanning optical microscope that provides simultaneous transmission and reflection mode measurements while concurrently recording a topograph of the sample surface. In this microscope design, an ellipsoidal cavity is used to collect and reimage the light reflected from a near-field optic. Reimaging of the near-field optic away from the mechanical components of the microscope eliminates any hindrance that they would otherwise cause. The near-field optical microscope configuration described in this article allows for the efficient, symmetric collection of reflected and transmitted Light. This instrumental design has been optimized for chemical problems that require molecular characterization on the nanometer scale. Images of similar to 100 nm Au particles demonstrate the utility of this instrument.