Rochester Optical Co., (Rochester, NY)
Premier Hand Camera Variation 1 - c. 1891-1895
4 x 5
Notes: The earliest Premier, The Premier Variation 1, had a small knob in front to cock the shutter. By the 1893 catalog, The Premier Variation 2 had instead: a lever in a brass rack on top, which cocks the shutter (to various spring tensions) when moved in either direction. There is also a Premier No. 2 advertised in the same catalogs as The Premier Variation 2 ["Variation 2" is my terminology], which has front rise that The Premier variations 1 & 2 do not.
References:
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus,
Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY,
June 1890, p. 12
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus,
Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, May
1891, pp. 12-13
1892 Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus,
Rochester Optical Co. (Rochester, NY), 1892, pp.
12-13
The Premier Camera Regular and Folding, Rochester Optical Co.
(Rochester, NY), undated c.1892, pp. 02-13
Catalogue "G" 1896-1897 Photographic Apparatus and Materials,
Montgomery Ward & Co. (Chicago, IL), p.5
