Blair Camera Co.
Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of
Photographic Apparatus and Supplies, Section A, Blair Camera Co.
(Boston, MA), distributed by Oscar Foss (San Francisco,
CA), 1890, pp.
15-16
4¼x5½ (this
is the only size Lucidograph
that does not have a rising front)
Stamps, inside the cover:
1) "39": serial number, on the cover, and also on the inside of the case
2) "Patented May 10, 1887, No. 362599"
(camera contained in a case such as the Lucidograph)
3) "Blair Camera Co., Boston"
Date Introduced: - ;
Years Manufactured: c.1884-1894
5 x 7
Stamps inside the cover:
1) "70", a serial number
2) "The Lucidograph, The Blair Camera
Co., 208 State Street, Chicago, Ills.", stamped in ink
3) "Patented May 10, 1887, No. 862559"
4) "Blair Camera Co., Boston"
5 x 8"
Stamp on bottom of ground glass frame:
"Patented Sep. 2, '84. - 304406."
(spring back)
Stamps on inside of door:
1) "32", a serial number
2) "Blair Camera Co., Boston", the manufacturer
3) "Patented May 10, 1887, No. 362599." (camera contained in a case such
as the Lucidograph)
Construction: front focus
via rack and pinion (single gear track on middle base rail); no
swing; reverse by two tripod mounts; three-piece lens board
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base;
black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: #1560=3¼x4¼; #1561=4¼x5½
(photo below); #1561A=5x7 (photos above);
#1562=5x8 (photo below); #1563=6½x8½
Notes: #'s1560-1563 includes camera holder,
lens, canvas case, tripod; #1564 A-E=same sizes but camera only. Called
The Compact Camera in the 1884 catalog.
The two smallest sizes do not have a rising front, according to the
Blair-Foss 1890 catalog, p.16.
References:
Blair Tourograph & Dry Plate Co. Catalog, 1884, un-numbered page between
pages 14 and 15 (as The Compact Camera)
Photographic
Apparatus Manufactured by The Blair Camera Company, Blair Camera
Co. (Boston, MA), distributed by C.R. Selee (56 Bromfield St., Boston,
MA), dated 1886, pp. 15-16
Photographic Lenses and How to Select Them, James W. Queen & Co.
(Philadelphia, PA), 1887, back cover
Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of
Photographic Apparatus and Supplies, Section A, Blair Camera Co.
(Boston, MA), distributed by Oscar Foss (San Francisco,
CA), 1890, pp.
15-16
Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of
Photographic Apparatus and Supplies, Section A, Blair Camera Co.
(Boston, MA), 1893, p.
50 (as a discontinued model)
Anthony's Photographic Bulletin XXV No. 5, May 1 1894, p. xi
