I have prepared an updated version of my Grubb and Parsons article, using Grubb lenses owned by myself and Paul (pgk). It will appear in the magazine of the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain (PCCGB), Photographica World. I will post something here when the article is published.
William
Substantial Revision of known surviving Grubb Lenses (won't paste in more effectively - sorry):
Serial Number Letter Designation Primary Engraving Additional Engraving Mount Additional Information
160 None Grubb Dublin Patent Rack & Pinion/Portable
245 Focusing??? One off mount?
264 None Grubb Patent No. 264 Helicoid Focusing
359 - - - Rack & Pinion
483 None Grubb Dublin Patent - 18”
509 None Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 509 micro engraved on rear element Helicoid Focusing Helicoid Aplanat
52? - Grubb Patent? - Aplanatic Meniscus (single) 6in?
546 - - - Helicoid Focusing Patent Helicoid Aplanatic with pivoting cap
552 Grubb Patent Sold by Morley. 70 Upper St. N 4154 Morley was at 70 Upper St. from 1857
588 Grubb Patent Lens Vade Mecum – Helicoid Focus Mount
623 Grubb Patent Portable On a sliding box camera
647 ??? 90mm = D? Grubb Patent Aplanatic - sciencemuseum.org.uk - made in 1857 - 90mm diam x 70mm high 0.65Kg pers corr.
696 C Grubb Patent Portable Aplanatic landscape lens focal length approx 45cm. D ~95mm (uncollapsed) d ~75mm with flange (~1858?)
756 A Grubb Patent Helicoid Focusing In helicoid focussing mount
790 None Grubb Dublin Rack & Pinion Probably a Petzval lens
798 Rack & Pinion 5” x 7” Camera
800 Grubb Dublin Rack & Pinion Probably a Petzval lens
815 Grubb Dublin Rack & Pinion(?) Described as Patent Helicoid Aplanatic??? Perhaps a Petzval Projection Lens?
840 Grubb Dublin Probably a Petzval lens
870 Described (LFP) as a Landscape Lens
879 A Grubb Patent Portable With integral hinged cap? Cut down 'hood'?
986 A2 Petzval per LFP – engraving said to have a different style
993 A2 Grubb Dublin Rack & Pinion Probably a Petzval lens
1045 Portable
1066 A3 Grubb Dublin Rack & Pinion Petzval
1449 A2 Described (LFP) as a Small Petzval Lens
1531 Portable
1533 Grubb Patent On Sands Hunter Camera
1539 C Grubb Patent Portable Landscape ~43cm
1554 C Grubb Patent Stereo??? Only brass remaining
1685 Grubb Patent Portable
1686 A No glass
1706 Grubb Patent Helicoid Focusing
1829 A3 Grubb Dublin Rack & Pinion(?) Probably a Petzval lens
1859
1892 Christies – Described as incomplete
1918 A0 Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 1918 micro engraved on rear element Portable
2071 A3 Grubb Dublin Rack & Pinion Petzval(?)
2135 D Grubb Patent Portable
2215 B (?) Grubb Patent Doublet Grubb Patent 2215 micro engraved on rear element None Probably a Stereo Lens – see 2216 & 2217
2216 B Grubb Patent Doublet None Stereo Lens (with 2217)
2217 B Grubb Patent Doublet None Stereo Lens (with 2216)
2227 Grubb Patent Doublet Lens Vade Mecum
2241 A Grubb Patent Portable
2338 B2? Rack & Pinion Petzval (?)
2409 D Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 2409 micro engraved on rear element None Stereo Lens (originally with 2410)
2410 D Grubb Patent None Stereo Lens (originally with 2409)
2451
2591 D Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 2591 micro engraved on rear element Portable
2603 Grubb Patent 1862 per Hasbroeck 8” f/8
2627 B or E ??? Grubb Patent Portable Lens Vade Mecum – probably a Stereo Lens ('e'?)
2658 C Grubb Patent Portable http://cameraheritagemuseum.com/imag...bblens_jpg.htm
2676 A3 Grubb Dublin Rack & Pinion Missing a lens element. Probably a Petzval lens
2692 B1 Grubb Dublin Probably a (projection – used as anyway) Petzval
2719 C Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 2719 micro engraved on rear element Portable
2729 B (or E???) Grubb Patent Portable Lens Vade Mecum – 74mm flange suggests 2.5” element which would be a B
2795 C
2854 B Grubb Patent Portable
2885 C Grubb Patent Portable
2890 B
2914 D Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 2914 micro engraved on rear element Stereo??? See 2915
2915 D Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 2914 micro engraved on rear element (see 2914) Stereo??? Rear element engraved with previous lens's serial number! Flange thread 1.9” diam. Non-extending mount with front loading Waterhouse stop. Stereo. Same construction as 2409
3147 A0 Grubb Patent Portable? Missing extending aperture mechanism?
3197 Grubb Patent
3198 Grubb Patent
3318 D Grubb Patent Portable
3447 C Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 3447 micro engraved on rear element Portable
3465 Grubb Patent Stereo??? Lens Vade Mecum ??? 1862 ??? Doublet ??? “achromatic periscopic”??? Marked Patent
3510 D Grubb Patent Portable
3631 Ax Grubb Patent Grubb Patent 36?? micro engraved on rear element Portable Said to be 1864? Evidence???
5013 - Grubb's Aplanatic ? x 6 ˝ Sole Agents Watson & Sons 313 High Holborn London Watson & Sons suggests post 1883
5046 - Howard Grubb Dublin Aplanatic Doublet London Agents Watson & Son 313 High Holborn London Watson & Sons suggests post 1883
5148 Grubb Patent Doublet Lens Vade Mecum
5196 - Grubbs Aplanatic 5 x 4 Sole Agents Watson & Son 313 High Holborn London Watson & Sons suggests post 1883. Mount is 'crude' pos. by Watson?
5204 Grubb Patent Doublet Lens Vade Mecum
5218
5290 - Howard Grubb Dublin Aplanatic Doublet
5308 - Howard Grubb Dublin Aplanatic 10 x 8 Rotating Stops
5316 B1 Grubb Dublin Probably a (projection – used as anyway) Petzval
5321 B1 Grubb Dublin Probably a (projection – used as anyway) Petzval
??? A Science Museum – fitted to an 1862 (?) Pantascopic camera by Johnson & Harrison
??? Sliding box plate wet camera. For 9.25 inch square plates. No focusing screen or darkslides. Grubb's patent lens F=approx.7 inch f/3.5. Brass mount with rack and pinion focus and slot for Waterhouse stops. With one Waterhouse stop. RPS cat Part 4 Section 29 No 5/16. 13196 on the lens.
Thanks Paul for all the work involved in this. I am the proud 'new owner' of D lens No 2591 (joining 509 and 3631 in my collection - see attached photo) and which came marked with f stop 14.4 plus 3 washer stops marked f 18, 24 and 72. As you have already pointed out, these markings would date from a later period than the 1860s when the lens was manufactured as the f stop system had not been developed by then. There seems to be a pattern emerging from these studies pointing to most of the production being concentrated in the 10 year period from the mid 1850s to the mid 1860s when the Grubbs (Thomas and son Howard) seem to have decided to concentrate more on telescopes. My article on Grubb for the Photographica World magazine of the PCCGB should appear in the not too distant future. I am meeting the editor of the magazine at Photographica Camera Fair in London on 19th May and I believe that based on Paul's researches (with relatively tiny inputs from myself) there may be more than enough for another article before long. I am also hoping to photograph the Grubb workshops, homes and graves using my smallest Grubb lens (an A x) on a modern digital camera. I live only a few miles away from where the lens was manufactured over 150 years ago.
William
I just starting reading this thread and was interested to see in the ad posted in #38 the comments from Samuel Bourne. I have several images by Bourne and all I can say is that if any of them were taken with a Grubb lens that it was one heck of a nice lens!
Post #38 is an add which starts by saying that every Aplanatic lens has written on the concave surface "Grubb Patent xxxx".
Lens with brass engraving 2215 - a simplified stereo aplanatic - actually has the aplanatic lens cell from it's stereo twin 2214!
2915 has element 2914 installed! I've read the advert several times without twigging that it said that each lens was numbered on the glass!!! The list will be updated if I can get serial numbers out of several museums - some lenses are in long term storage unfortunately.
All 3 of my Grubb lenses have the engraving and so far I can confirm that 509 has that number engraved along with 'Grubb Patent'. I need a stronger loupe to confirm the other two, but they both have an engraving; very faint on 2591. Will confirm details here when I have them.
As well as Bourne and Thomas Grubb himself, there are photos by Carleton Watkins (Yosemite) and Francis Bedford (Middle East Tour by Prince of Wales) where a Grubb lens was used for some of the photographs taken.
William
A Print was sold at Christies which was described as :
Francis Bedford - 'Water Gate Raglan Castle', 1850s
Albumen print, 91⁄2 x 111⁄2 in., mounted on card, signed, titled and inscribed This specimen for Ldy Rosses kind acceptance. lens 15 inches, focus stop 5/8 inch - and Mr. Grubb's 3 inch lens. medium stop. in pencil on mount.
Which I suppose goes to prove that well known photographers have always tried to use the best equipment available and have always been interested in the equipment used, although in this case I suspect that the Irish connections were also of interest, hence the inscription. The lens referred to would have been a Grubb 'C' Aplanatic (15" focal length & 3" diameter.).
Lady Rosse was presumably Mary Rosse the wife of William Parsons the Earl of Rosse and famous astronomer who was helped by Thomas Grubb in respect of the castings for his giant telescope at Birr. Mary was an accomplished photographer and was also the mother of Sir Charles Parsons, the inventor of the Steam Turbine and also the man who saved the Grubb firm when it ran out of steam (pardon the pun) in the 1920s. The result was the firm Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co Ltd which continued to manufacture telescopes and other optical devices until 1985.
William
I have a teeny weeny problem with 552!
Morley apparently engraved his name/address and reference number on both new and secondhand items sold from his establishment. This is proved because lenses exist which have the usual Morley data, but two Morley "serial numbers". The second one with quite a lot higher number. This could mean that Morley sold the lens from new, and then secondhand later to a new owner. Or sold it twice second-hand. So the Morley address doesn't always show the date of production!
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