THE SUCCESS COMPACT VIEW

E. & H.T. Anthony & Company, New York 1873 - 1882

Anthony's Success Compact View is seen as early as 1872 in Anthony's catalogues. Its name derived from the camera having a hinged-bed and a lens standard that was partially recessed into the camera's main frame when folded. With a folded depth of only 6 inches, the end result was a camera that was more compact than many other field cameras of the same format.

Based on its production timeline, the Success Compact View was a wet plate camera that transitioned into the dry plate era. Several variations of the camera are known. The particular style of the vertical swing supports seen on this 8x10 example, differs from the style seen on earlier production models as depicted in Anthony's catalogues. This, together with the absence of wet plate stains may suggest that this particular example was manufactured later in production:

The earliest version of the camera exhibits the English-style of construction, as seen in the engraving from Anthony's 1972 catalogue below. Nelson Wright's centrally swiveling rear frame design with a locking knob, Patent No. 52,239 of January 23, 1866, was incorporated on this first version and the subsequent version having a more curved swing support as seen in the Anthony 1875 catalogue engraving below.

Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

On later confirmed versions of the Success Compact, the vertical swing is secured by a sliding knob connected to the base of the rear frame:

Although not a part of Nelson Wright's patented design, the camera's lateral swing was adjusted by two thumb screws located beneath the rear frame's base support, one on each side. This feature is found on all surviving examples seen of the Success Compact View I've encountered, although per Anthony's 1875 catalogue, the camera could be had with a single swing, double swing or no swing at all.

From Anthony's Illustrated Descriptive Price List of Photographic Apparatus for 1872

From Anthony's Illustrated Price List of Photographic Apparatus for 1875

The wood panel insets found on the folding bed of this example, also adds to the speculation. These panels might suggest this camera to be of earlier production, with the panels' disappearance on later models construed as an effort to reduce weight. If so, it begs the question as to why they were ever incorporated from the onset if the goal was to make a lighter camera. If the opposite is true and the panels were added later, this would run contra to the typical progression seen in cameras towards reducing bulk and weight over time.

This camera is equipped with an Anthony Single Achromatic "pillbox" style landscape lens having rack-and-pinion focusing. It bears E. & H.T. Anthony's well known "EA" trademark. Several surviving examples of the Success Compact have been seen with this lens:

Sharing prominence with the twin thumb screws to adjust the lens board's height, the camera's other most prominent feature is the storage compartment at the base of the lens standard. This compartment would have been used to hold accessories:

Like many of Anthony's cameras, the Success Compact View is almost never seen today, due in a large part to its wet plate era heritage. The survivability rates for apparatus from the wet plate and daguerreian periods, declines exponentially when compared to what can still be found from the late 1880's and 1890's.

Including the camera featured here, at least three confirmed examples are known to exist in private collections.

Anthony's Illustrated Descriptive Price List of Photographic Apparatus for 1872

Anthony's Illustrated Price List of Photographic Apparatus for 1875

Though unconfirmed, here's another 8x10 camera that's strongly believed to be a variant of the Success Compact View. This is based upon its general construction, having the twin thumb screw arrangement on the lens standard and a storage compartment. Other than some Semmendinger models that have a similar storage compartment (which all appear to hinge from the bottom instead of top, as on the Success Compact), the Success Compact View is the only camera I've encountered with a twin thumb screw lens standard:

This camera differs from the Success Compact View featured above, having smaller thumb screws, no lateral swing, a different style storage compartment latch, a brass-reinforced center track, a split-frame back that's hinged at the bottom and adjusts from the top for vertical swing, and a push/pull focusing lever with no fine-focus adjustment.