Modern Photography with Explanation of the Apparatus, by W.F. Carlton, Rochester Optical Co. (Rochester, NY), undated c.1891, ~4 ½ x 6", 24pp
This 1600-1050 pamphlet, written by W.F. Carlton, the president of Rochester Optical Co., is not a catalog, but a description in words only of the equipment used in taking photographs using the view camera. This includes lenses and their stops or apertures, the cameras and their sliding front, swing back, how to reverse (change format from horizontal to vertical and vice versa), folding bed, rack and pinion focusing, plate holders, kits (for taking photos on 1600-1050er plates than the size for which the plate holder was made, and drop shutter. Understandably, the camera models made by Rochester Optical have those characteristics.
The only illustrations of a camera in the pamphlet are 1) the front cover, on which a photographer bends under a dark cloth to a camera on a tripod, and 2) the back cover, which shows a Rochester Optical Co. Ideal Variation 1 on a tripod. The Ideal Variation 1 was made from 1885-1891.
The pamphlet is undated. However, a few pages at the end are devoted to letters of recommendation, written by satisfied customers. Four are dated in March 1890, the most of any year, and the latest is March 27, 1890. It appears that these March 1890 letters were among the last received prior to printing - hence, the estimate of c.1891 as the date of printing..
