Samuel Peck & Co. (New Haven, CT)
Studio Camera c. 1855
4¼ x 6½
Bottom
Stamp at the rear of the platform: "Manufactured by
Samuel Peck & Co."
Assembly No. 6 stamped on the lower part of the lens
board
Assembly No. 6 stamped into the upper part of the
ground glass frame
Notes: Samuel H. Peck manufactured Daguerreian images, cases, and ~1850-1860 wet-plate cameras. He entered and partnership with Scovill Mfg. Co. in 1855 and sold out by 1860. Cameras of this design continued to be made by Scovill. The assembly number "6" used for this camera was punched with the very punch (from identical micro-defects) that was also used on a Peck Field View Camera. The spring hardware on the back is nearly identical to a camera identified as a John Stock Multiplying Camera.
References:
The Art of Retouching,
Burrows & Colton, E. & H.T. Anthony, publishers, 1880, p.12 (in an ad
for W.J. Hazenstab's New Photographic Stock House, St. Louis, MO (just a
line announcing that Sam. Peck & Co.'s camera boxes are carried)
Antique and Classic Cameras, Harry I. Gross, 1965, pp. 30 (camera) &
104 (formula sheets)
