DESCRIPTION:
This is a codington magnifier, apparently used to view motion picture film. It is made of Brass and ?Vulcanite or painted wood. It is Signed:
M'F'D by BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO ROCHESTER NY, for Thomas A Edison Inc. Orange NJ and is also signed:TRADE Thomas A. Edison MARK, A-SYSTEM MOTION PICTURE being made for the movie industry. It has a serial number of 13340. It is 3 1/2 inches long.

CONDITION: The instrument is in good working condition and the finishes on it are good.

HISTORY OF THIS DEVICE

Photographic magnifiers became common in the late 19th through the 20th centuries. A number of focusing photographic magnifiers are on this site, but this is the only one I am aware of specifically made for motion picture film. It differs from the other photo magnifiers on this site on having a fixed focus.

Thomas Edison and his associates at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, invented the first system of commercial motion pictures. About 1890 Edison invented the 'Kinetoscope' which was a peephole device which was the forerunner of the motion picture camera. The first public exhibition of it was in 1893. Edison made the first commercial motion pictures between the 1890's and 1910. Thomas A. Edison Inc. was incorporated in 1910. Bausch & Lomb were one of the suppliers of lenses used by Edison for his motion picture devices. A virtual example of Edison's Kinetescope in action is available here.