The Scovill & Adams Co.

 

Elite View Camera

 

Scovill & Adams Catalog, January 1892, p. 10

Example 1: 5 x 8" serial number 314

Stamp, rear end of platform: "The Scovill & Adams Co., N.Y."

Three serial number stamps, each digit stamped separately to make No. 314.  From top to bottom: 1) on the bottom of the lens board, just below it, 2) on the bottom of the rising front piece, and, just below that, 3) on the bottom of the fixed part of the front standard.

A fourth serial number 314 on the bottom of the ground glass frame.

 

 

 

 

Example 2: 5 x 8" serial number 355
This example has a Waterbury Lens (single achromat) that also has the Elite Shutter built into its brass barrel.
Oddly, this camera does not bear any stamp or label indicating the manufacturer, even though it is identical to the serial no. 314 above that is stamped "The Scovill & Adams Co, NY".

Bottom

Top

Late type Scovill & Adams Patent Rod and Pocket device for making the bed rigid.
  The patent information is lightly stamped onto the two large brass plates, and reads: "Patented / October 20, 1885",  Prior to about 1889, when the Scovill & Adams Co. was formed, the patent information was stamped into the wood,

 

 

 

 

Manufacturer: American Optical Co. New York, NY factory
Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c. March 1890-c.1898
Construction: back focus via rack and pinion (single gear track on middle base rail); single swing; reversing by two tripod mounts;
Materials: mahogany body; cherry bed; black fabric bellows; brass hardware, French polish finish
Sizes Offered: 4¼x6½; 5x7; 5x8; 6½x8½
Notes: The Elite is essentially a Waterbury Variation 2 with geared focus and better finish; it came with a Waterbury lens.  There is a knob underneath the right rear carriage that the catalog engraving shows going through the base to nowhere, but, on the camera, this knob locks the focus knob.

References:
Not in the Scovill & Adams March 1889 catalog
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), March 1890, p. 22
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Oscar Foss (San Francisco, CA), June 1890, p. 21
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), January 1891, p. 21
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Sargent & Co. (Cleveland, OH), April 1891, p. 9
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Horgan, Robey & Co. (Boston, MA), June 1891, p. 11
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1892, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), 1891, ads p. 124
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), January 1892, p. 10
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), abt. June 1892, p. 10
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1893, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), 1892, ads p. 150
The American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1894, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), 1893, p. 118
Catalogue of Photographic Goods and All Articles Pertaining to Photography, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), undated c.1895, p. 17
How to Make Photographs and a Descriptive Catalogue of Photographic Materials Illustrated, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), 1896, p. 29

 

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