The idea of a collapsable camera to aid portability was realised in the 1840s with Chavalier's Le Grande Photographe camera and in England in the 1850s with designs from Ottewill, Willats, Horne and Thornthwaite and Meagher. The idea was resurrected in 1875 with Hermagis's Micromégas camera which collapsed when the front and back panels were removed.

The design was the subject of British patent number 937 of 13 March 1875 for 'Improvements in photographic apparatus'. The patent stated:
'The object of this invention is to produce a portable photographic apparatus, equally available for photographic operations within doors and in the open air, as well as for making enlargements.
1st improvement.-- Forming the two side of the camera, the top and the bottom, of four pieces of wood jointed together by hinges which exclude the light and extend the entire length of the pieces; the joined edges of each piece are bevilled at an angle of 45 The camera can be folded flat; on being unfolded it assumes the shape of a rigid square which is maintained by the insertion of the lens board and of the dark slide.
2nd improvement.-- In the tripd, the head is fixed on the top of the legs...The screw and disc have a small central hole through which to pass a wire from which a weight is suspended.
3rd improvement.-- The outside of the lens tube is shaped as a swift screw and the inner surface of the washer is provided with a similar thread; the rotation of the lens effects the focussing. For enlarging, the negative is fixed in the ground glass slide and exposed to light; the screen to receive the enlargement is placed at the required distance from the lens, which is adjusted...'

Condition: 4
Cosmetic: Normal use and wear.