Anthony Novelette Patent Duplex View

E. & H.T. Anthony & Co.

Novelette Patent Duplex View

Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. (New York, NY), December, 1895, p. 23

Example 1, Camera LP166, a Duplex Novelette having its 8 x 10" rear standard installed.
It has a Darlot Hemispherique Rapide lens with a full set of Waterhouse stops, and a leather-covered lens cap, an unmarked drop shutter, one plate holder and its original Anthony wooden case

Ground Glass Frame Shut for Viewing

Ground Glass Frame Open for Installing Plate Holder

Bellows in Transition from Vertical to Horizontal Format

The Anthony Duplex Novelette is so called because its bellows may be detached to install a different-sized rear standard and bellows. This system is superior to extensions such as the Blair Patent Extensions, which may have vignetting, since the bellows are smaller than the plate size should have.

Metal label on the front standard.

Stamps at the rear end the platform frame. They are:
1) "Pat. App'd For" (probably the bellows detaching mechanism)
2) "Pat. Nov. 11, '84" (clamp hooks for making the platform rigid)
3) "Pat. Mar. 28, '82" (bellows revolving at the front standard)
4) "& Feb. 20, '83" (construction of the plate holder)
These are identical markings to those on Camera LP375 below.

The assembly number on the inside of the lens board is a rather complex "A44", rather than a simple number, as usually seen on Anthony cameras. Its significance is not known.

Example 2, Camera LP375, Another example of a Duplex Novelette. This one has both 5x8 and 8x10 rear standards, an unmarked rapid rectilinear-type lens, a 5x8" plate holder and an Anthony wooden case.

With 5x8 back loaded for vertical format, from the front right.

Camera with the 8x10" back loaded for vertical format, photos from all four sides and the bottom.

Camera with the 5x8" back loaded for vertical format, from the right rear.

Setup as just above, but with a plate holder installed. The plate holder should have brads on each side (not present here) to be held tightly by the lever clips during the exposure.

Camera with the 5x8" back installed during rotation from vertical to horizontal format.
Like other Novel and Novelette models, it has four quick-connect keys (holes in the two brass plates visible on the left side) on two sides that allow the transition to be made in less than 15 seconds.

The Camera is ready to exchange the 8x10" back for the 5x8" back.
The clip that holds the front of the bellows to the front standard (the long, arc-shaped brass lever) has bee pulled up, and the bellows is now free.
I forgot to install a new 8x10 ground glass before taking the photos.

Using the quick connects, the 5x8" back has been removed and the 8x10" back snapped into place. The bellows has not yet been attached.

The bellows has now been connected to the front standard, held securely by the arc-shaped brass lever.

Label, brass, on the lower part of the front standard: "E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. - Manufacturers - 591 Broadway, N.Y."
The round hardware below it should contain a large threaded thumbscrew that attaches the camera to the tripod. The thumbscrew is not here because it is currently in place in the tripod (it can just barely be seen in the top photo of this outfit, above).

Four stamps at the rear end the platform frame. They are:
1) "Pat. App'd For" (probably the bellows detaching mechanism)
2) "Pat. Nov. 11, '84" (clamp hooks for making the platform rigid)
3) "Pat. Mar. 28, '82" (bellows revolving at the front standard)
4) "& Feb. 20, '83" (construction of the plate holder)
These are identical markings to those on Camera LP166 above.

Date Introduced: 1885 ; Years Manufactured: 1885 - c.1898
Construction: rear focus via push-pull but with fine-focusing screw; single swing; reversing by rotating bellows and back; plywood lens board
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 5x8 and 8x10 backs for the same track; in 1891 also 8x10 and 11x14 backs for the same track
Notes:

The bellows not only rotate, like all Anthony Novel and Novelette cameras, but this camera's bellows detach, allowing two different sizes of rear standards to be slid onto the tracks. It would come with two different sizes of rear standard and bellows. The first example above does not have its second rear standard and bellows, only having the 8x10" back, but it originally also had a 5x8" back. This conclusion is possible because the 2nd example has the same size of frame platform, and it was purchased with a 5x8" back, and also fits the 8x10" back that wasl added later from a separate purchase. Said purchase was pretty inexpensive, due to me probably being the only person having a Duplex Novelette needing its 8x10 back. Now if I could only see for sale a 5x8" back in perfect shape to match to the first example...

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