1890 VoigtLaender Euryscope III 6 F4.5, nice aperture- need more info than i can find

[jack cotter]

Hello Folks,

I have the 1890 Catalog thanks to Dan, but i would like to know more. I have perused it without luck finding a match to the Portrait Euryscope III 6 F4.5 serial number 59515 New York unit that i have in possession. maybe i can post pictures to help i.d. it.

[goamules]

Exactly what do you want to know? By reading the lens and catalog, or measuring the lens you hold, you should now know it's aperture, focal length, coverage, condition, number of iris blades, weight, ....um...everything. It looks like the hood is on the wrong end. I'd guess it was made about 1905. What else do you need?

Here is a 1905 catalog page from Jim Galli:

[Steven Tribe]

The American Voigtländer organisation was given a batch of serial numbers late in the 1890's to be used on the "home" engraved US Voigtländers.

There is no known list of these numbers (which include your number) matching a particular year or even decade. This means that some of the owners of the later developed Voigtländer designs (there were many!) think they have the very first example - pre-dating others by years.

[goamules]

I would base the year of the OPs lens as around 1898 - 1908. Notice in the ad above, last paragraph, emphasis mine; "Portrait Euryscopes are now furnished altogether with iris diaphrams." This sounds like a new feature.

This 1908 Photo-era magazine is a little hard to read, but it says the Voigt & Son Optical Co., NY was established 10 years prior (1898), but is now being incorporated by Voigt & Sohn, A. G. The OPs lens is marked with the former, not the latter.