Camera Lucida

Unknown artist

The U.S. Military Academy acquired this fairly large camera lucida in 1830. One inscription reads "Vincent et C. Chevalier / Quai de l'horloge N 69, à Paris." Another reads “C. CHEVALIER / 829.” Vincent Chevalier, a noted optical instrument maker in Paris, based the form on the design introduced in 1819 by Giovanni Battista Amici (1786-1863), professor of mathematics at the University of Modena. It has a heavy glass prism and two external optical elements: one has a clear lens and a blue glass filter; the other has two blue filters.