GOERZ ANSCHÜTZ Plattenbox

9x12cm, exposures on dry plates, walnut body with metal plaque engraved Ottomar Anschütz, BERLIN, W.8, the interior stamped 18, brass bound lens engraved No.22566 C.P. GOERZ Berlin EXTRA RAPID LYNKEIOSKOP Serie C No.1. Focal-plane shutter in working order with handwritten stamp Ottomar Anschütz Lissa / Posen /, camera in fine condition and extremely rare. Designed by Ottomar Anschütz a talented inventor and photographer associated with the introduction of the focal plane shutter. He experimented during the early 1880's by attaching a cloth focal plane shutter to a standard camera so he could apply its 'stop action' to capture moving subjects. By the late 1880's a production model of this camera had been designed which was later manufactured by Goerz who used his name and reputation in the marketing of the camera. Goerz later went on to employ the Anschütz shutter to their Klapp cameras which became the standard syle of camera for most press photographers and was widely used throughout Europe during the early part of the 20th century. His many other achievments were, with his own designed apparatus he projected a series of moving images onto a ceiling in Berlin before an audeince some before the Lumiere brothers launched their Cinematographe. His contemporaries included Muybridge and Jules Marey. He also set up the first association to protect to the rights of professional photographers. Literature: Michel Auer (1990) The Guide to Antique Cameras no.622, Abring I p.40, Lothrop (1973), A Century of Cameras, p.49.