NO. 20 ECLIPSE STEREO LENSES

Buchanan, Bromley & Company, Importers, 1226 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1890's

No. 20 Eclipse matched stereo lens pair, manufacturer undetermined, but marketed by Buchanan, Bromley & Company of Philadelphia.

Another portrait lens in the collection with the name "Magister 6", mounted on an Anthony Novel View Camera, is also marked "B.B. & Co., Philadelphia". Buchanan, Bromley also marketed lenses under the names "The Austrian", "The Lightning", The Dapper" and "The Fairy". Hermagis is also known to have marketed projection lenses under the Magister name.

In Scovill's The Photographic Times for 1884, the firm of Buchanan, Smedley & Bromley was listed as importers and wholesale dealers in photographic supplies, and as general agents for platinotype materials at 25 N. Seventh Street, Philadelphia. By 1888, the firm's name had changed to Buchanan, Bromley & Company listed as manufacturers and by June, 1889, they were selling lenses under the Magister name with advertisements appearing in Anthony's International Annual and Photographic Bulletin.

The stereo assumption is based upon the number "14" etched in pencil on the edges of both lens elements, suggesting they are matched. Other than a slight difference in the barrel script engravings, the lenses are identical in construction and size, with an approximate focal length of 6 inches capable of producing a 5x8 stereo image. The width including the mounting flange is approximately 2-1/16", with a 1-1/8" barrel diameter and a height of 1-5/16".