American Optical Company
Scovill Mfg. Co.
Kilburn Gun Camera
Scovill's
Dry
Plate Making for Amateurs, p. 70
4 x 5"
Stamps at the rear of the
platform/bed of the camera: "9", an assembly number, and "Amer. Optical
Co., Scovill M'f 'g. Co., N.Y.", the manufacturer.
Manufacturer:
American Optical Co. New York, NY factory References:
Back to American Optical
Co. / Scovill Mfg. Co. (alphabetical)
Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured:
c.1882-1886
Construction: back focus
via rack and pinion (single gear track on middle base rail) or push-pull;
single swing; reversing by two tripod mounts;
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base;
black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 4x5
Notes: This is a camera
similar to the
76,
except for the unusual lens board arrangement, in which the knurled knob
must be removed to slide the lens board up and out. Depending on
clearances, the lens may also have to be removed to change the lens
board. And yet these are found with multiple lens boards.
The gunstock, rarely found with the camera, if at all, was sold
separately. The photos show a camera having push-pull focus,
whereas the engraving and other existing cameras have a rack and pinion
focus. Despite not being advertised in catalogs after 1886, an
engraving of the Kilburn was used to advertise The Waterbury
Finder in the
Scovill Almanac for 1895, p. 78.
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 1, The Photographic
Amateur, 2nd Edition, J. Traill Taylor,
Scovill Mfg. Co. pub. (New York, NY), 1883,
2nd Ed. about 1885, p. a22
The Photographic Times, Vol. XIV, No. 171; New Series No. 81,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), Dec. 26, 1884, p.717 (an engraving
illustrating an ad for The Waterbury Finder, an accessory view
lens that clips onto the front standard of a camera)
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 17 - First Lessons in Amateur
Photography, Randall Spaulding,
Scovill Mfg. Co. pub. (New York, NY), copyright 1886, p.a22
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by
Andrew J. Smith (Providence, RI),
1886, p. 50
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 12,
Photographic Chemistry, Scovill Mfg. Co.
(New York, NY), 1886, p. a30
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 20, Dry
Plate Making for Amateurs, Scovill Mfg. Co. (New
York, NY), 1886, p. a22
Catalog P, Photographic Material, J. W.
Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1886, p. 70
