Rare Cameras > Butcher Royal Mail stamp camera 1905
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W. Butcher & Sons (London) Royal Mail - 1905
Novelty wooden camera from the early 20th century. A finger jointed mahogany box with multiple lenses - possibly a toy camera. The 15 lenses produced 15 separate images on an already small 1/4 plate glass plate. This plate would then be contact printed to a pre-perforated sheet of printing paper producing a sheet of individualised black and white stamps. These are very rare, so much so that they have been faked. This is genuine, serial number 152 stamped on the inner 15 hole septum block. Butcher produced a number of larger multiple image cameras, as did other makers, so the principle was well understood by 1905. W. Butcher & Sons survived for many years, joining forces at times with other major English manufactirers such as Houghton and Ross.
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Butcher Royal Mail
Each lens has a rolled brass dress ring - these are sometimes missing but this is entire. The shutter is a simple spring loaded push putton which slides a plate down to position a simple hole aperture in front of each lens. Push and release to expose, so exposures must have been long and the camera well steadied. The trigger can be locked open with the swing catch. -
Butcher Royal Mail
The ground glass focus screen would have been hard to use for anything but composition. It slides into place. A standard ridged plate holder replaced it for the exposure.
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Butcher Royal Mail
The inner 'septum' block slides out to permit cleaning of the lenses.
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Butcher royal Mail
Each lens is a simple glass meniscus set behind a sliding plate 15 hole shutter.