What should I do with my broken old enlarger?

[MkII]

By old I mean 1890s. It's a William Hume (Edinburgh) India model. I've just asked the National Media Museum (Bradford, UK) whether they would like it, but I suspect they won't (the National Museum of Scotland didn't).

If the museum doesn't want it, does anyone have any advice on what to do with it. As it was my great-grandfather's I don't just want to put it to the mercy of fleabay.

Thanks, Mark

 

[MkII]

 

[jordanstarr]

Anyone who buys it on eBay would likely have an interest in preserving it if that is of any positive advice. Associations, societies and museums locally are my best bet (photographic, historical, etc.) for the optimizing the educational preservation I think you are looking for.

 

[horacekenneth]

that's very cool. I like the note about resisting the attacks of insects. Not something we look for much anymore with our equipment

 

[tkamiya]

That's a very neat piece of gear.... If I had it, I'd restore it and hold on to it. May even try to use it to print a few.... I'd be interested if you weren't the other side of the pond.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Put it on eBay with the words "rare" "hard to find" "highly sought after" "cherished" "antique" and ask $100,000US and see what you can get for it.

 

[Chan Tran]

it's old enough. may be you should have it appraised by a professional.

 

[removed account4]

duct tape a black trash bag instead of bellows
use a CF bulb/ LED source
and print a bunch of photos with it projecting the image
on the wall or wherever .. then
look for a contemporary museum / gallery or university gallery
tell them about the enlarger, &c and have a show and enjoy yourself.


who knows maybe appraised it will be worth $$ but only to a collector ( if they know about it )
having a show and using duct tape and a trash bag is "reversible "
so you will gain interest maybe a buyer ...

good luck !

john

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Have you considered talking to the 'Fotografiska Museet' in Stockholm, Sweden?

 

[m1tch]

Keep it, perhaps make it into a lamp or something if you don't want to fix it to be used for its original purpose.

 

[Ian Grant]

What size is it ?

I know a man who restores things like this

Ian

 

[Mike Wilde]

I think you might want to call it a candle powered lantern slide projector. That should get a fair bit more historical people interested.

Glass negatives processed directly via reversal, or more often as contact copies of original negatives were the first sort of travelogue imaging shows to become available.

They were the first way you may hope to glimpse a place you may never visit.

Print images came a fair bit later than text in newspapers and magazines, and this thing likely predates widespread print imaging.

 

[MkII]

Thanks for all the replies. I took it out of the box and assembled it as far as I could. Here are a couple of photos, one of the c.30cm lens. I don't really have anything I could usefully do with it, all my great-grandfather's glass slides are miles away in my uncle's shed...

 

[pentaxuser]

Have you thought of the Fox Talbot museum at Laycock Abbey?

pentaxuser

 

[MkII]

I don't think any museum will have it. They tend to have strict collection policies that stop them from taking items in bad condition because it is so hard for them to get rid of stuff once they've take it (for example if a better example comes along after). Having said that, I'll get in touch with Laycock as I won't know unless I ask, thanks for the tip.