Bausch & Lomb Balopticons and Accessories
Rochester, New York: Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, 1923.
THE CATALOGUE THAT BROUGHT THE MODERN PROJECTION LANTERN INTO CLASSROOMS, CHURCHES, AND LECTURE HALLS.
Issued during the transition from nineteenth-century magic lanterns to twentieth-century projection technology, this extensively illustrated Bausch & Lomb trade catalogue documents one of America's leading optical manufacturers at the height of its influence. More than a sales catalogue, it served as a practical reference for schools, universities, churches, scientific institutions, and public lecturers seeking reliable projection equipment for education and public presentation.
THE EVOLUTION OF PROJECTED LEARNING.
The catalogue presents the complete Balopticon line, from portable lantern-slide projectors to sophisticated opaque projectors capable of displaying photographs, books, specimens, maps, and other non-transparent objects. Detailed specifications, projection-distance tables, lighting systems, accessories, and pricing provide an unusually complete snapshot of professional projection technology during the early 1920s.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: A WELL-ILLUSTRATED TRADE CATALOGUE.
+++ Quarto format measuring approximately 6¼ × 9¾ inches. Original pale buff mottled paper wrappers printed in brown with a double-rule border and embossed Bausch & Lomb seal to the front cover; stapled as issued.
+++ 48 pages, illustrated throughout with halftone photographs of Balopticon projectors, optical equipment, accessories, factory views, technical diagrams, projection tables, specifications, and contemporary price lists. Includes descriptions of Models A, BB, C, CRM projectors, stereoscopic projection equipment, acetylene illumination systems, rheostats, projection lenses, and related accessories.
+++ Title page bears the 1920 copyright with printing code DD-4, VIII-23, 7M, indicating a 1923 printing.
+++ Particularly noteworthy are the extensive projection-distance tables, detailed equipment specifications, telegraphic ordering code words, and period pricing throughout the catalogue. The frontispiece depicting the Bausch & Lomb manufacturing complex—identified as photographed with a Tessar Ic Lens—adds an appealing industrial-history element uncommon in equipment catalogues.
CONDITION: Very Good. Original wrappers remain sound with moderate, even age toning and light shelf handling. Staples are clean and secure. Interior is bright, clean, and unmarked with only light age toning. Binding remains tight and square. A particularly attractive example of a trade catalogue that often survives with heavier institutional or classroom wear. Complete as issued.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: FROM MAGIC LANTERNS TO MODERN VISUAL EDUCATION.
The Balopticon occupies an important place in the history of visual education. During the first decades of the twentieth century, schools, universities, museums, churches, and public lecturers increasingly relied upon projected images to communicate scientific, historical, and artistic subjects to large audiences. Bausch & Lomb became one of the principal American manufacturers supplying this rapidly expanding educational market.
This catalogue captures that technological transition in remarkable detail. While firmly rooted in the tradition of lantern-slide projection, it also illustrates increasingly sophisticated opaque projectors capable of displaying books, photographs, drawings, and physical objects directly—an innovation that greatly expanded classroom instruction long before overhead projectors and digital presentation systems.
SUBJECTS: Bausch & Lomb; Balopticon, Magic Lantern, Lantern Slides, Projection Equipment, Educational Technology; Optical Instruments, Cinema History; Photography; Industrial Catalogues, Visual Education; Rochester, New York,Trade Catalogue, Optical Instruments, Photography, Projection Technology, Educational Ephemera, Industrial Design, Scientific Instruments.
Item #22329
Price: $45.00
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