Philipp Graff Camera, c. 1848

"Constructed by P. Graff in Berlin." It features a rotatable brass disc – mounted on an axis and bearing an engraving – and a conical tube designed for a short focal length, set upon a flat camera front similar to the multi-back attachments found on later studio cameras. The front of the wooden body bears embossed markings: 1/6 and ?. The rear features a hinged focusing screen measuring 67 x 130 mm, though the actual usable image area – by design – measures 55 x 85 mm. Along the top edge of the rear panel, markings are embossed to guide the sliding placement of a 16 x 21 cm studio plate holder: ?, 2, 1, 3, 4. If this camera was indeed built during Graff’s lifetime (1813–1851), he may well have used it in 1848 – working as a daguerreotypist – to create the portraits of the members of the Frankfurt National Assembly; the subtle embossing on the front served as his advertisement as a professional photographer. In this process, the smaller individual portraits were captured sequentially on a single full-sized plate; due to time constraints and the need for efficiency, up to eight exposures would be developed simultaneously. The original lens was later replaced in c. 1870 with an Aplanat lens (approx. 6/60 mm), which produces a sharp image at a distance of 8 meters; the original lens was likely a Petzval-type lens of the same focal length but with a wider aperture, equipped with a rack-and-pinion focusing mechanism, without tripod mount (broken, replaceable). This camera represents a historically significant artifact within the history of Germany.

布雷克拍品等级是为了方便竞买人判断拍卖品的成色而设置的。布雷克等级用1到6级来标注外观和功能的成色，(从非常好到非常差)。 在目录图册里用括号里的2个数字来表示，前一个数字表示外观成色的级别，后一个数字表示功能成色的级别。如(3/2)表示外观成色是3(满意的)，功能成色2(好)。 成色 定义参照下列标准： 1 - 非常好 (未使用过，没有使用痕迹) 2 - 好 (新，极少的使用痕迹) 3 - 满意的 (普通的使用痕迹) 4 - 及格的 (明显的使用痕迹，某个非主要部件是后配的) 5 - 有缺陷的 (极明显的使用痕迹, 某个主要部件是后配的，功能上有缺陷，需要修理) 6 - 非常差 (严重破损, 缺少重要部件)