Scovill Mfg. Co.
Manifold Camera
Scovill Dry Plate Making for Amateurs, 1886, p.
16 
8 x 10 (6.5 x 8.5 back)
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: 3¼x4¼;4x5; 4¼x5½; 5x7; 6½x8½; 8x10
Notes: This is a 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 probably started as an 8x10, but currently has a 6½x8½
Rochester Optical Co. back cobbled-on (c.1910, as found on the
Rochester View Variation 4). 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.
The use of both a front geared focus and a rear push/pull focus in this era is similar to
the Gennert Brighton and the
Sunart Vici (Smith Magic).
Later, geared focus front and rear became the norm.
References:
Scovill's
Photo. Series No. 20, Dry Plate Making for Amateurs,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), 1886, p.
a16
Catalog P, Photographic Material, J. W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1886, pp.
53-54
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by C.H. Codman & Co.
(Boston, MA), April 1887, p. 38
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by
C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), September 1888, p.
30
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1888
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), January 1889, p. 29
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1889
Photographic Material,
Catalogue O & P, James W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA),
1891, pp. 41-42
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. 23
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), January 1892, p. 23
How to Make Photographs and a Descriptive
Catalogue of Photographic Materials Illustrated,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), 1896, p. 37
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