Scovill Albion Camera Variation 1.5

Scovill Mfg. Co., Waterbury, CT & New Haven, CT

Albion Camera Variation 1.5

4¼ x 6½, with Original Scovill canvas carrying case, and three Scovill English-style plate holders.

Ground Glass Frame Hinged Upwards

Bottom

Top

Metal (probably nickel-plated brass) label on the upper part of the rear standard.

English-style Plate Holder

Manufacturer: Scovill Mfg. Co.
Date Introduced: c.1887 ; Years Manufactured: c.1887-1897
Construction: telescoping bed focus via rack and pinion (gear tracks hidden); single front and double back swing; reversing by removable back
Materials: mahogany body; mahogany bed; black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: #550=4¼x6½; #551=5x7; #552=5x8; #553=6½x8½; #554=8x10
Notes:

The Albion View Camera is an English Compact style of camera - hence the name Albion, from the oldest (and Greek) name for the island of England. English Compact refers to the clamshell-like way the camera folds up, which was a design made by a large number of manufacturers in the United Kingdom. Albion variations 1.0 through 2.0 even have an English-style flip-up or flip-down ground glass frame, and take English-style plate holders, which have a recessed groove on their long sides. The insertion of such holders could be described as sliding into an grooved back, an arrangement similar to a tongue and groove. Light would have to make 5 right angle turns to leak from the interlocking parts of the holder. This style of holder is common for cameras manufactured in the United Kingdom, but rare in the United States. The only thing that reveals an American source for the Albion would be the typical Scovill clips that secure the removable back. There are two platforms: an inner to which the front standard is attached, and an outer to which the rear standard is attached. Both standards pivot, either to close up the camera or to provide tilt from either standard. The inner platform may be moved either forward or backward via rack and pinion focus, using one or two (depending on variation) large diameter thumbscrews. The outer sides of the platform of Variation 1.0 through 1.5 are mostly wood, whereas Variations 2.0 and 3.0 have a full length slotted metal guide / reinforcement. Variations other than Variation 3.0 have a large circular hole in their bottom housing a tripod head. Three tripod legs fit onto six hefty brass pegs to complete the tripod.

It is a high end camera for Scovill - normally, one would expect such a French-polished, decorated brass model to have been made by the American Optical Co., Scovill's high-end manufactory, but Albions were always advertised as Scovill product, and therefore probably made in the Scovill New Haven, CT factory.

Albion Variation 1.0 has only a small amount of brass hardware on the side of the base/bed. The front standard is conventional, consisting of a vertical wooden frame capable of rise movement, and a separate lens board, retained via a metal strip at the top and a metal flipper at the bottom.

Albion Variation 1.1 is identical to the Variation 1.0 except that it has all nickel-plated hardware. Scovill catalogs do not appear to ever say whether the hardware is brass or nickel-plated. If it follows the rule of other camera models that appear in both brass and nickel-plated hardware, the brass version was the earlier variation, and replaced by the nickel-plated version either when marketing indicated that customers preferred nickel-plated, or when nickel-plated parts were found to be less expensive than the labor-intensive draw-filing and varnish method of finishing brass parts.

Albion Variation 1.5 is similar to the Variation 1.0 in that 1) its main platform has mostly wooden sides (rather than clad in slotted brass), and 2) its removalbe back has the hinged flip-up or flip-down ground glass frame, and uses English-style plate holders. But its front standard does not have a removable lens board and secured at its top by a horizontal metal strip, which also has a vertical slotted section for rise movement, like all other variations of the Albion. Rather, the front standard of Variation 1.5 is like Variation 2.0, in that it has a board the must be removed by pushing it up past the verical supports until it is completely removed. The same sliding motion provides rise movement. To lock the rise, the same two thumbscrews that allow the front standard to tilt backwards for storage must be used. Fortunately, the rise is rather tightly fitted, otherwise holding it all in place while tightening the screws might require more than two hands.

Albion Variation 2.0 has full length brass hardware on the side of the base/bed. Inasmuch as the above camera is marked Scovill Mfg. Co. and one of the observed Variation 2 cameras is marked Scovill & Adams Co. (the successor to Scovill Mfg. Co.), Variation 2 is though to represent a later version than Variation 1, being an improved version having a brass-reinforced side. The front standard of Variation 2.0 is like Variation 1.5, in that it has kind of an integral lens board, instead of being easily removed, like Variation 1.0. In the 1886 Queen catalog reference, a 4¼x5½" size is offered without lens on pages 84-85, and with a lens for bicycle use on page 77 as The Wheelman's Perfection Photographic Outfit. Introduced: not in the April 1887 catalog, but in the Sep. 1888 catalog.

Albion Variation 3.0 - Also called The Elm City View domesticates the Albion Camera for American use. The built-in tripod head has been replaced by a tripod screw hole of standard size and thread pitch. Variation 3.0 also continues the full length brass hardware along the base/bed, as in Variation 2.0. The removalbe back now has a four-spring-type (see below) for American-style plate holders.

The American Optical/Scovill & Adams Co. Four Spring Back
This back consists of a ground glass frame connected to the back of the rear standard using four springs, one in each corner, and each about 2-3 inches long. As One end of each spring is tightly screwed to the rear standard, while the other end applies pressure onto the middle of a hinge made of sheet brass about 2 inches long, which is attached, one end to the ground glass and the other to the rear standard, via round-head wood screws long enough to act as axles. Three of the corners appear as in the left hand photo below. The fourth corner contains the spring, but also an extra bit of hardware attached to the sheet brass that catches in an open position on a post. This is shown in the right hand photo below.

This type back found on a number of cameras in this collection, including: A similar back is found on the 1) Scovill & Adams labeled Acme Reversible Back View Camera Variation 3, 2) unlabeled Albion Variation 3, 3) American Optical, Scovill & Adams Co., Prop'rs labeled Compact View Variation 2 or Irving View Variation 2, 4) American Optical, Scovill & Adams Co., Prop'rs labeled Irving View Variation 1.(known to have been introduced in March, 1892), 5) Scovill & Adams labeled St. Louis View Camera Variation 3, and 6) Star View Camera (introduced 1890) - one example labeled The Scovill & Adams Co., the other example labeled American Optical Co., Scovill & Adams Co., Prop'rs).
From the example cameras from six models that have four spring backs, we find that all but one camera (and that one is unlabeled and so indeterminate) are labeled and thus can be dated from when The Scovill & Adams Co. were proprietors of the American Optical Co., that is, 1889-c.1899. It would therefore appear that the four spring back was introduced approximately when Scovill Mfg. Co. changed to The Scovill & Adams Co. in 1889. The four spring design was patented in 1889 (granted to Scovill Mfg. Co. (W.H. Fuller, assignor), #407587, 23 Jul 1889), but, unlike most of their patents, the patent information is not stamped into the wood or otherwise appear on cameras using the patent.

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