American Optical Company
Scovill Mfg. Co., Prop'rs
Cone View Camera (Model No.'s 51-58)
Manufacturer:
American Optical Co. New York, NY factory Scovill / American Optical made a number of
of cone or tapered bellows cameras. See
American Optical/Scovill Back Focus Tapering Bellows Field View Cameras - Chronology and Design
for history of Scovill/American Optical camera models of this basic
type.
This model is still
advertised in 1884, but it is essentially an artifact of the wet plate
era, with its square ground glass frame that must be removed and
replaced by massive, square, wet plate-type plate holders. The
back removes in order to install a plate holder. It is
non-reversing, since the wet plate can be mounted in its holder either
horizontally or vertically, or just a square plate used, as the
photographer desires. It is the precursor of the c.1884-c.1895
Acme Reversible Back View Box, which is an
improvement in that the Acme has a spring loaded back/ground
glass frame. References:
Back to American Optical
Co. / Scovill Mfg. Co. (alphabetical)
Date Introduced: patented 1881;
Years Manufactured: c.1881
- c.1884
Construction: rear
focus via push-pull; 0/1/2 swing;
non-reversing; three-piece lens board
Materials:
Sizes Offered: #51=4 ½x5 ½;
#52=6 ½x8 ½; #53=8x10;#54=10x12; #55=11x14; #56=14x17; #57=17x20;
#58=20x24
Notes:
Price
List, Allen Brothers, Wholesale Dealers, Importers and Manufacturers of
Photographic Materials, Mats, and Picture Frames, Allen Brothers
(Detroit, MI), c.1882, pp. 11-12 (as View Boxes)
Descriptive Catalogue and Price List of the Photographic Apparatus
Manufactured by the American Optical Co., Scovill Mfg. Co.,
proprietors and managers (New York, NY), Sept. 1884, p.52
