Images of Lost UK Camera Obscuras from the Wilgus Collection

We have added a second trade card for the Crystal Palace camera obscura that is dated 1874. We are especially pleased to find this one since we have never seen it pictured and this shows a small multi-sided structure on a balcony. We have never seen a picture of the camera obscura and this answers several questions for us. We are still looking for a photograph or map of the interior that shows that area.

We were excited to learn that Camera Obscura, by Lloyd Rose, a novel in the ongoing series about the time traveler Doctor Who was about a camera obscura in he Crystal Palace. Although the cover shows a seaside pier with a camera obscura building at the end this is not the kind of camera obscura featured. We were both delighted and disappointed in the passages on the camera obscura since the instrument described was not an actual camera obscura.

Penmaenmawr, Wales
The card mounted albumen print by Francis Bedford shown below is a beauty. We stand on a hill overlooking the seafront and pier at Penmaenmawr, Wales. The camera obscura is on our left. An 1890s image of a camera obscura at Happy Valley, Llandudno, Wales on the internet shows a close resemblance to this structure but is not exactly the same. We have learned that Llandudno and Penmaenmawr are only about ten miles apart. It seems likely that the two had the same builder.
On the right is an enlargement of the camera obscura. The turret is a square box with a design painted on its sides. The door is open but unfortunately there is a mound of earth hiding the inside.
The Crystal Palace, Sydenham, London, England
We keep our eyes open for any reference to operating camera obscura so were delighted to find the ticket/advertising card shown on the right. One side is for the Patent Weighing Chair and the other for the Camera Obscura in the Crystal Palace. Our research indicates that these attractions were added to the Crystal Palace after it was relocated in Sydenham outside London in 1854. We found references to a camera obscura installed by the famous optical firm of Negretti & Zambra in the 1870s. We also found an 1872 account of an American family's visit to the Crystal Palace with references to both the weighing chair and the camera obscura. We hope to find more about the exact location and format of the camera obscura but so far have only learned that it was located up stairs in an open corridor of the South Transept and was opposite the crystal fountain. On the right is an image of the interior and below is an image of the Crystal Palace from one of our stereo cards. They are not dated so we are not sure if they are from the original location or Sydenham.
We have added a second trade card for the Crystal Palace camera obscura that is dated 1874. We are especially pleased to find this one since we have never seen it pictured and this shows a small multi-sided structure on a balcony. We have never seen a picture of the camera obscura and this answers several questions for us. We are still looking for a photograph or map of the interior that shows that area. We were excited to learn that *Camera Obscura*, by Lloyd Rose, a novel in the ongoing series about the time traveler Doctor Who was about a camera obscura in he Crystal Palace. Although the cover shows a seaside pier with a camera obscura building at the end this is not the kind of camera obscura featured. We were both delighted and disappointed in the passages on the camera obscura since the instrument described was not an actual camera obscura.	This card also carries an add for the Patent Weighing Chair that tells us Mrs. B weighed 149 pounds on June 16, 1874. Since the weight is given only in pounds, and not in stones as our first card is, perhaps Mrs. B was an American.