The Photographic Studio: A Guide to its Construction, Design and Selection of a Locality
Thomas Bolas, FCS, FIC.
Published by Marion & Co., London, 1895. First edition. Bound in the publisher's hardcover red boards with titles in black to the front cover and spine. Spine ends and board corners bumped, small patch of damp to the upper corner, not affecting the contents. Black endpapers, small contemporary Foyles sticker to the lower pastedown. Pages lightly age toned, as expected, with in text illustrations. 94pp. Good/None. Very Scarce
Thomas Bolas, known as the father of the 'detective camera', was born in Glastonbury, Somerset in 1848. He served as an analytical chemist and consultant to Dr John Stenhouse and author and photographic chemist Raphael Meldola, and became interested in chemical processes as they applied to printing and photography. His interest in photography was a natural progression, and he became an active member of the Royal Photographic Society in 1875. He introduced a hand camera he invented to assist law enforcement - which he dubbed a 'detective camera' - to the Photographic Society in 1880. The box camera - in which 13 double dar slides could be stored - was based on the twin lens reflex camera with separate lenses for viewing and taking, a focusing scale, and a pneumatic shutter release. After developing a cylindrical shutter for his camera, Professor Bolas applied for a patent for his invention, which he received on November 3, 1881. Although there is no historical evidence to suggest that Professor Bolas' camera was ever commercially manufactured, the design served as the blueprint for several popular cameras of the Victorian Age, most notably William Schmid's detective camera. This camera fad reached its peak in Great Britain and the United States during the 1890s, but soon faded at the turn of the century. He assumed the editorial duties of the Photographic News from 1884 to 1891, and is credited with its increased scientific emphasis. He also briefly published his own journal in 1889, The Photographic Review, which resumed publication in February 1890 with a new publisher and editor. He also edited two editions of Wall's Dictionary of Photography and authored texts for the photographic retail giant Marion & Co., which included The Photographic Studio: A Guide to its Construction, Design, and the Selection of a Locality (1895) and A Handbook of Photography in Colours (1900). Professor Bolas' active participation in the Photographic Society and in industry publications ceased in the early twentieth century, and he spent his last years in quiet retirement in the London suburb of Wimbledon, where he died on March 1, 1932 at the age of 85.
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New: A new book, never used.
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