Last year, after a patient search, I bought a 12×10 view camera. It needed a bit of a fix up before it could be used – it was rather stiff, needed a ground glass, and some other repairs to the woodwork including attention to the large crack on the base board.
And here it is with Abi next to it for scale.
It’s a lovely camera made by Marion & Co. Ltd sometime between 1901 to 1913.
Thanks to the great resource at Early Photography I was able to narrow down the manufactured date from the name plate using a combination of the name and address at the time of the build.
Changing the company name and moving addresses was very helpful 🙂
| Company Name | ||
|---|---|---|
| Marion & Co. Ltd | 1901 – 1921 | |
| Marion & Co. | 1867 – 1901 | |
| Auguste Marion Son & Co. | 1863 – 1867 | Sometimes shown as A. Marion Son & Co. |
| Marion & Co. | 1848 – 1863 | Sometimes shown as A. Marion & Co. and Auguste Marion & Co. |
| Augustin Marion & Co. | c.1846 | |
| Augustin Marion | c.1842 – c.1846 | |
| Company Address | ||
| 3 Soho Sq., London W | 1913 – 1921 | South east corner of square |
| 22 & 23 Soho Sq., London W | c.1866 – 1913 | |
| 23 Soho Sq., London W | 1863 – c.1866 | |
| 32 Bread St., London | c.1848 | |
| 152 Regent St., London | c.1846 – c.1866 | W postal district from 1857 |
| 19 Mortimer St., London | 1842 – c.1846 |
The crack in the base plate looks severe but it still feels fairly solid. I’ll have a blog post soon about how I made a modern tripod mount for Marion that prevented the crack from getting worse.
I checked the bellows carefully in a dark room with a bright light source and it appears to be perfectly light tight!
To get Marion moving more freely and to help the plate holders slide in and out I used some fantastic Renaissance Wax – highly recommended for many purposes!
Lots more to do before it’s in full working order. More posts on that soon…
Dora Capsalis
I have several plates and lenses made by Marion & Co 22 & 23 Soho Square London similar to the above. I can supply photos if you are interested.
Your kind reply would be appreciated.
Dora Capsalis
James
Hi Dora, I would love to see some photos of your Marion & Co plates and lenses. In fact, if you’re on Flickr I set up a group for sharing them: https://www.flickr.com/groups/marioncameras/
If not, feel free to send them by email: http://www.jameslpearson.co.uk/contact-me/
Thanks!