Scovill Mfg. Co.

Manifold Camera

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c.1885-1898
Construction: front focus via rack and pinion (single gear track on middle base rail) and rear focus via push-pull; single or no swing; reversing by removable back
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 3.25x4.25;4x5; 4.25x5.5; 5x7; 6.5x8.5; 8x10
Notes: long bellows camera which has removable extensions front and back in addition to a folding joint in the middle of the base; the front or back would be removed for shorter focal length lenses. The camera came with one Daisy plate-holder and canvas case.  The photographed camera currently has a 6.5x8.5 back, but it is a cobbled-on Rochester Optical Co. back from ~1910.  The camera differs from the engraving in that it originally had a Flammang patent revolving back, and the rear standard focuses via the usual flip switch rather than top-mounted rods.
References:
Scovill's Dry Plate Making for Amateurs, 1886, p. 16
Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog P, 1886, p. 53-54
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), April 1887, p. 38
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), September 1888, p. 30
Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1888
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co. Catalog, January 1889, p. 29
Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1889
Photographic Material, Catalogue O & P, James W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1891, p. 41-42
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co. Catalog, January 1892, p. 23
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co. Catalog, 1896, p. 37

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