#Exhibit of the Month

The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing. On the front panel is the Agfa anastigmat lens, mounted in a Compur-type shutter produced by F. Deckel in Munich. It features a foldable "brilliant" viewfinder for both portrait and landscape orientation. It uses glass photographic plates coated with a photographic emulsion, mounted in walnut wood holders, with a frame size of 9x12 cm.
The walnut wood model, considered the flagship "Agfa Isolar Luxus," was designed by the A.H. Rietzschel factory in Munich, acquired by AGFA in 1925, which continued producing this type of camera under its own name until the late 1920s.
The piece was restored by Mihail Culașco, Restoration Department of NMHM.
Brief History of the Camera
The history of the camera spans 200 years, evolving from the camera obscura to today's digital devices. Key milestones include: the first permanent photograph in 1826 by French physicist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a wooden box and a plate coated with bitumen of Judea; the invention of the first photographic process - daguerreotype - in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, marking the official birth of photography; the invention of calotype, based on the negative/positive principle, by British physicist and chemist Fox Talbot; the invention of wet collodion plates by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer and dry glass plates by Richard Leach Maddox and John Huds Bennet; the introduction of flexible roll film and the launch of the first Kodak camera by American inventor George Eastman; the release of the first 35 mm film camera by German company "Leica"; the launch of the first instant camera "Polaroid," invented by American Edwin Land. Finally, starting in 1975, this path led to the digital photography revolution. Each successive step made cameras smaller and faster, significantly improving image quality.
The first photographic studio in Chișinău was opened in 1854 by Eduard Glewski, and before World War I, there were already about 100 photography studios in Bessarabia.
The collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova includes over 30 cameras, made in Austria, Germany, France, USSR, Japan, and China, dating from the late 19th century to the 2000s. Among them are folding bellows cameras, BOX-type cameras, single-lens reflex (SLR) and twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras, as well as digital (DSLR) cameras.

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January 2024

Mihai Eminescu: volumes of works from the NMHM collection

On January 15, in tribute to the birthday of the great poet Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889), the Republic of Moldova celebrates the National Day of Culture. In the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova there are several materials related to the name of the illustrious Romanian poet and prose writer, such as books, paintings, medals, coins, philately pieces and cartophile, etc. On this occasion, we present to the public two volumes signed by Mihai Eminescu, representing the author's oldest editions from our book collection.

The first book entitled "Political and literary writings: original manuscripts and collections from newspapers and magazines" vol. 1: 1870-1877 - XXXV, 451 p. was published in Bucharest in 1905. The cover is original, made of paper. On the forced sheet there is a stamp with the text: "Gheorghe Papaghiuc Library. Iasi". On the verso title page: "Publishing Institute of Graphic Arts "Minerva". On page V-XXXV, introduction signed by Ion Scurtu, dated Bucharest, June 10, 1905". Of the planned edition in 3 volumes, only volume 1 appeared (laudatory articles in the press of the time). On the back cover, the list of books published in the collection of the Library of Romanian Writers, classic authors and modern authors was placed.

The second book is "Complete Works. Poems - Short stories - Novel - Theater - Thoughts - Writings: Literary, Economic, Political and Philosophical - Letters - Critique of pure reason by Kant" with a preface and an introductory study by A. C. Cuza, Iași 1914: edited by Librăria Românească / Ioan V. Voinescu and N. Georgescu - Institute of Graphic Arts N.V. Ștefănescu & Co.: Ștefan cel Mare street, no. 38.

Three illustrations representing Mihai Eminescu at different ages are inserted in the volume: M. Eminescu after a photograph from 1879-1880 (between pages 184-185); M. Eminescu after a photo from the years 1884-1885 (between pages 344-345) and the photo of M. Eminescu from the age of 20, which is missing in our volume.

Alexandru C. Cuza (1857-1947), who signed the preface and the introductory study of the volume, was a professor of political economy at the University of Iași, a contemporary of Mihai Eminescu whom he knew. Because of the political activity of A.C. Cuza, one of the founders of the far-right movement in Romania, known for its extremism and anti-semitism, the 1914 edition was banned in 1948. Many copies of this edition were destroyed in the early years of the communist regime.

#Exhibit of the Month

Folding bellows camera, “Agfa Isolar Luxus”. AGFA Company, Munich, Germany, 1928

January 2024

Mihai Eminescu: volumes of works from the NMHM collection

#Exhibit of the Month