"My friend Paul Kay has had difficulty uploading a splendid photo of the inscription on Grubb Patent Doublet No 2215. It is much better than my poor effort for No 582. So, I am doing this on his behalf. Remember what Paul said about some of these…"
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"The next RPS Historical Group The PhotoHistorian contains a short piece on Thomas Slater, optician, and for a short time a manufacturer of photographic lenses. It contains a reference to a spat he had with Grubb, over his patent. Nothing directly…"
"Thanks Paul. My smallest Grubb lens, an Ax with serial number 3631 has the following engraving 'Grubb Patent No 3631 Ax'. I suspect that the last 'x' is even smaller than 0.6mm. I mentioned the French Darlot lenses in my original…"
"I have examined other lenses from Burr, Wray, and others without finding any such trace. However Sir Howard, Thomas Grubb's son, certainly signed telescope lenses in the same way. The writing is extremely fine on Grubb lenses though and…"
"Hi William. I just found some ephemera relating to a large glass negative. Created before "The Worlds Fair Chicargo" in 1893. of where it won a Premier award.. The Photographer was Alfred Werner FRPS of the Photographic Society of…"
"William,
A friend of my parents had gone to the World's Fair at Chicago in 1933. He had visited the Ripley's Believe it or Not exhibit, where he had watched someone write the Lord's prayer on a grain of rice, which he purchased.…"
Signing 19th Century Lenses - A Common Practice?
My collection of Grubb Patent Aplanatic Lenses made in Dublin between the 1850s and the 1870s all have micro-engraving with a number at the very edge of the glass lens element to match the engraved or stamped number on the brass barrel of the lens. The purpose behind this is to indicate authenticity and avoid fakes.The writing (for that is what it is) is barely visible to…See More
Found photographs from 70 year old Perutz film
Found in a Leica FILCA cassette, these photographs taken in Switzerland and Northern Italy in the early 1950s and developed in Dublin in 2020.There are a lot of discussions and technical considerations in this article. The object is to trace the families of the people in the photographs and to unite them with the images. Any suggestions about how to do this would be…See More
"Dear William,
Yes, my e-mail address is: paul@classicphotographics.co.uk
Will be good to make contact.
Best Wishes
Paul"
"Hello William,
I met with Dave today, am glad you have a lot to share. As did we for over 2 hours, really interesting man.
Pleased that he has the Grubb ledger and is willing to share information.
All the Best
Paul"
"My Presentation can now be seen here without the requirement of LHSA Membership.
https://www.macfilos.com/2020/08/26/leica-cameras-of-the-20th-century-a-video-presentation-from-noted-expert-william-fagan/
So far there have been about 250…"
"Very definitely interested. I have a list of 100+ Grubb lenses that are known to exist today (including those in my own collection, about 6) and can send that to see if he has corresponding details. Most, but not all, of the items on the list can be…"
"Hello William,
I live in the North East of England near where the Grubb Parsons factory was. I bought a small, hand written ledger which came from the works. It contained the serial numbers and lens type for lenses made in the 1860s.
A local Grubb…"
"Hi William, nice article thanks for sharing. I wrote a small post on the Sydney Observatory 13-inch Melbourne astrographic telescope made by Howard Grubb 1888-1890 back in 2008. I'm no longer at the museum but you can read the article here.…"
"Thanks Marcel. I know that the work of Irish photographers is scattered all over the world and I would be interested in hearing about any such photographs, wherever they may be. As for Grubb, there is a long running thread on Grubb 19th Century…"
"Hi William. Thanks for sharing this info. as someone who collects brass lenses, I have been interested in the various makers and I also happen to be a research collaborator on the Photographers of GB & Eire database and I have an interest in…"
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William Fagan's Blog
Sean Sexton collection items stolen
Earlier this year we heard the sad news that the some of the collection of the great Irish collector of early photography, Sean Sexton, had been stolen. Some of the collection has been turning up, but a lot of it is still untraced. Here are photos of some of the main items which are missing.
I also have a Word document with 20 pages listing the stolen…
ContinuePosted on November 25, 2020 at 21:00
Signing 19th Century Lenses - A Common Practice?
My collection of Grubb Patent Aplanatic Lenses made in Dublin between the 1850s and the 1870s all have micro-engraving with a number at the very edge of the glass lens element to match the engraved or stamped number on the brass barrel of the lens. The purpose behind this is to indicate authenticity and avoid fakes.The writing (for that is what it is) is…
Posted on November 22, 2020 at 14:00 — 7 Comments
Found photographs from 70 year old Perutz film
Found in a Leica FILCA cassette, these photographs taken in Switzerland and Northern Italy in the early 1950s and developed in Dublin in 2020.
There are a lot of discussions and technical considerations in this article. The object is to trace the families of the people in the photographs and to unite them with the images. Any suggestions about how to…
ContinuePosted on September 12, 2020 at 15:00
Comment Wall (5 comments)
- At 23:56 on November 29, 2020,
Alan Judge said…
Hi William, My email is freedobjects@yahoo.co.uk if we have anymore difficulties.. Alan.
- At 16:16 on November 26, 2020,
Hi William. I have the same original image as of your attachment of the Cabin Camera by Alfred Werner you sent me. I also have another view of the door of the cabin from which you entered the camera..Thank you..
- At 13:43 on November 23, 2020,
- Hi William. I just found some ephemera relating to a large glass negative. Created before "The Worlds Fair Chicargo" in 1893. of where it won a Premier award.. The Photographer was Alfred Werner FRPS of the Photographic Society of Ireland.The image was of Madame Gonne McBride in Dublin.She became famous as a leader of women's rights..The negative size was reported as being 5'6" x 3'2" I belive it is held in The National Gallery of Ireland, both the negative and the contact print.
- At 15:44 on September 8, 2020,
Paul Cordes said…
Dear William,
Yes, my e-mail address is: paul@classicphotographics.co.uk
Will be good to make contact.
Best Wishes
Paul
- At 20:07 on September 7, 2020,
Hello William,
I met with Dave today, am glad you have a lot to share. As did we for over 2 hours, really interesting man.
Pleased that he has the Grubb ledger and is willing to share information.
All the Best
Paul
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