Fairy Camera
Date Introduced: 1884 ; Years Manufactured: 1884-1898
Construction: rear focus via rack and pinion (single gear track between base rails); single or double swing; reversing by rotating bellows & back; three-piece lensboard
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; black fabric bellows; nickeled hardware
Sizes Offered: 4.25×6.5; 5×8 w/o stereo; 5×8 stereo; 6.5×8.5; 8×10 (illustrated)
Notes: Essentially a Novelette but with rack and pinion focusing instead of the normal push-pull. According to the catalogs, it was to come with a leather case for camera, and another for five plate–holders, although the illustrated camera obviously has an original Anthony-style wooden case which holds the camera and one plateholder. The rounded variation of the front standard (as above) could accommodate stereo lenses. The non-stereo version of the front standard is not as wide and is also square.
References:
E.&H.T. Anthony Photographic Bulletin #15, July 1884, pp. 338-9 introduction & sizes
Amateur Photographic Equipments & Materials, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., New York, NY, September 1885, pp. 73-back cover
Amateur Photographic Equipments & Materials, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., New York, NY, August 1887, pp. 16-18
Amateur Photographic Equipments & Materials, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., New York, NY, January 1888, pp. 16-18
The International Annual Anthony’s Photographic Bulletin, Vol. III, 1890-1891, p. 101
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., New York, NY, 1891, pp. 17-18
Photographic Material, Catalogue O & P, James W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1891, p. 43 (as Fairy Novel)
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., New York, NY, September, 1894, p. 21-22
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., New York, NY, January 1895, p. 21-22
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., New York, NY, August, 1896, p. 21-22
Thos. H. McCollin & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, c. 1897, pp. 45-46
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co., New York, NY, February, 1898, p. 14-15
not in 1899 or 1900 catalogs