Early 20th Century French Camera Lucida. Signed and in its Original Case

This item is a camera lucida, a device made in France in the early 20th century by the prestigious Parisian manufacture Pierre Berville. It is an instrument designed to help artists and draftsmen, very ingenious and easy to use. This piece comes in its original case and they are both in good condition. The camera lucida keeps all its original components and accessories except for lens number 1. It has 11 lenses of a total of 12 units. The item is made of silvery metal and black-lacquered iron. The metals surface is regular and shiny, with no traces of rust and showing only slight signs of the trace of time and use.A camera lucida is an optical device patented by William H. Wollaston in 1806, very probably inspired in the design that Johannes Kepler developed two hundred years before. These instruments perform an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing. Then, the user can see both the subject and the drawing surface simultaneously. The latin name camera lucida was used first by Wollaston, meaning light room. The device is easy to use: it must be fixed to the table or drawing board by means of the grip and focus the lens to the subject. When the user looks at the paper or canvas through the lens, he or she will see a superimposition of the subject on it.As stated before, the camera lucida we can see in these images was made by Pierre Berville, a manufactured mostly known by this kind of devices. The grip designed to fix the instrument to the board or table bears the manufacturers name and address and a description of the item engraved in the metal: CHAMBRE CLAIRE UNIVERSELLE MODÈLE DÉPOSÉ P. BERVILLE - 25, Chaussée dAntin. PARIS. The piece comes in its original case, lined in red felt and with the golden manufacturers mark printed inside the lid. The black faux leather that covers the outside is somewhat distressed at one of the cases edges, but it is mainly well preserved.Any lover of scientific antiques and charming vintage pieces will appreciate this original camera lucida, a highly interesting and ingenious piece.