Meagher Full-Plate Stereo Tailboard Travel Camera, c. 1870
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
c. 1870
This Meagher of London full-plate stereo tailboard travel camera dates to approximately 1870. Constructed from mahogany with brass fittings, this antique apparatus features brown leather bellows and measures 33 x 25 x 28 cm.
The design incorporates a height-adjustable front standard and a tilting rear standard, with extension controlled by a rear crank mechanism. It is equipped with two Lancaster & Son Birmingham patent landscape lenses, each 22 cm, featuring iris diaphragms with apertures ranging from 10 mm to 30 mm, set at a stereo separation of 8 cm. The camera includes a Thornton-Pickard shutter (No. X 57487) and retains the focusing screen back, a portion of the internal stereo septum, and an original double plate holder designed for 16 x 21 cm formats.
This sturdy piece of photographic history offers a sophisticated example of Victorian-era stereo equipment, demonstrating the mechanical ingenuity of 19th-century camera manufacturers.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Mahogany, brass, brown leather
- Dimensions
- 33 x 25 x 28 cm
Technical characteristics
- Format
- 16 x 21 cm
- Lenses
- Lancaster & Son patent landscape lenses (22 cm)
- Shutter
- Thornton-Pickard No. X 57487
- Aperture
- 10 to 30 mm
Design
- Features
- Height-adjustable front standard, tilting rear standard, rear crank extension
- Stereo separation
- 8 cm
Identification
- Source note
- Described from a single auction-house listing published on Invaluable (reproduced with Invaluable's permission). Details apply to that one example; other examples of the type may differ, and the listing is supplementary evidence, not authentication.
- Maker named in listing
- Meagher
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.