[W&B] Re: Details on Several Reprints

[Ralph & Bobbi London]

Matthew,

Thank you for the "ride down memory lane."  You have been, as always, 
very helpful in the additional details you provided.  I am pleased to 
learn them all.

Ralph

On Sunday, March 18, 2007, at 08:43  PM, MATTRI at aol.com wrote:

> I was reading the last issue and Ralph & Bobbi London asked about the 
> reprints and I saw some addresses that pulled at my heartstrings from 
> the early days of collecting.
> The first was Special 1972 Reprint Edition
> Classic Photographic Apparatus
> Simsbury, Connecticut.
> John Craig, as a young man, owned a commercial camera store at that 
> time and lived in Simsbury CT. At his own expense he started copying 
> nineteenth century catalogues and selling them for a pittance. He 
> loved photo history so much that he wanted the knowledge to be 
> available to the many, not the few. He knew very early that knowledge 
> was power. He was right. He still has many of the catalogues available 
> on his website. The one mentioned is
> #90016. Catalog Reprint: 1872 E. & H.T. ANTHONY CATALOG Fascimile 
> reprint of the original 48-page catalog appendix to the 1872British 
> Journal Photographic Almanac. Fully illustrated, with all theAnthony 
> cameras, lenses, studio accessories, etc. Valuable reference.  $10.00
> and can be found at http://www.craigcamera.com/ref.htm.
> The next address that tugged at me was
> Photographic Apparatus, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. Catalog, Ca. 1877. 
> Reprint Edition 1972, Photographica, 20 Stoneboat Road, Westport, 
> Conn. 06880.
> That was the address of John Dobron who was featured in George 
> Gilbert's book, Photographica. He also did a reprint for the same 
> reason that John Craig did. He had a wonderful collection which he 
> kept in Westport CT. He commuted to NYC where he had a well paying job 
> in advertising. Every extra dollar he made went into his collection. 
> He had thousands of items in his home on Stoneboat Road. He was 
> divorced and single with a big house. He filled seven rooms from 
> ceiling to floor with photographic items. Even his bedroom had ceiling 
> to floor shelving with every type of camera you could think of.
>
> In the mid-seventies, he had a party in his house for about 20 of the 
> best informed camera collectors in the country and just about everyone 
> who was anyone at that time came. It was a wonderful time, great food, 
> great liquor and great conversations. Sadly in the mid-1980s he had a 
> major stroke which paralyzed his right side totally and he lost his 
> ability to speak. I do not know what happened to that wonderful 
> collection, but John ended up destitute and on relief living in a 
> convalescent home. He is still alive and in his eightees living at 451 
> No. High St. #208, East Haven CT 06512-1555. We write each other a 
> snail-mail letter about twice a year. It was too late for him to learn 
> the computer. I haven't heard from him in a few months and cannot help 
> but wonder.
>
> Yet, the first person to do a reprint that I was aware of was a 
> teenager at the time and he did a reprint of the complete Kodak 
> catalogue of 1892 (I think). It was a treasure to the Kodak collector. 
> He is still very active in photohistory, is very active in the 
> Daguerreian Society, and has one of the best sites on photohistory on 
> the Net. His name is Bill Becker and he runs the American Museum of 
> Photography on the internet. http://www.photographymuseum.com .
>
> Bill Rodgers of Frankfurt KY told me he paid to print the 1888 W D 
> Gatchell Catalogue - Facsimile Edition. He is gone about ten years 
> now, but if memory serves me correctly, he also owned the catalogue 
> and wanted it to have more circulation, being from the South.
> That is enough of a ride down memory lane for tonight. I hope I have 
> been of some help Bobbi and Ralph.
> Respectfully yours,
> Matthew R. Isenburg
>
>
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