Tamarkin’s rare camera auction will take place on Sunday, October 30 and will feature some rare Leica cameras:
About the “the Leica gun”:
Leica Telephoto Assembly RIFLE, known as “the Leica Gun” or, in Germany, as the“Leica Gewehr.” A product of the E. Leitz agency in New York in the 1930s, the Leica Rifle is the rarest of all accessories. Very few were made and even fewer have survived the last seventy years. Originally made for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the Leica Gun was a favorite among the highest rung of wildlife and sports photographers in the inter-war years. This example is in wonderful condition. The viewfinder is Nr. 123 and is marked “E. Leitz Inc. New York.” The complete outfit includes the special base plate, original case, a 200mm Telyt f4,5 that is hazy, a Leica IIIa and well as an eyepiece magnifier for the PLOOT. Condition: Ex++ Estimate: $65,000 – $100,000.
Also included in the auction: “The Hemingway Leica”:
A Leica IIIf Red Dial Selftimer with 50mm Summicron f2 Nr. 1255243 in a watertight case MBROO. Nr. 791842. As is well known, Ernest Hemingway was an avid sportsman who loved hunting and fishing and boating. He spent his leisure time divided between Ketchum, Idaho, Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba. The Hemingway Leica was a gift, during an African trip, from Hemingway to his friend, Edison Marshall (1894-1967), a novelist specializing in adventure stories and, in 1921, an O’Henry First Prize-winning short story writer. The Leica then passed after his death from his friend, Dr. Pomeroy Nichols (1932-2002) of Augusta, Georgia, a neurosurgeon and, also, an amateur big game hunter, to Frank Christian, Sr. of Augusta, a local professional photographer, official photographer of The Masters Golf Tournament and of the Augusta National Golf Club, and founder of the Leica Collectors International (LCI), a precursor of Leica clubs that have since spread throughout the world. (It was Christian who had bought the Leica collection of James Forsyth, the collector who tried to launch the Barnack League and who had been the owner, after Barnack’s son, of Barnack’s own Null-Serie Leica Nr. 105.)
Leica MP-31:
With rare black enamel 50mm Summicron f2 Nr. 1944043. Original finish: not re-painted — just beautiful! The 20th black Leica MP manufactured! This camera was originally owned by the famed Leica collector, Dr. Wayne Hull, of St. Petersburg, Florida, a founder of the Leica Historical Society of America and the designer of special Leica ophthalmic laboratory equipment for E. Leitz, Wetzlar. If a camera can be called beautiful, this piece sure qualifies. Note the slight bit of corrosion to the left of the eyepiece. Condition: Near Mint Estimate: $40,000 – $80,000.
Here are some more Leica listings, the full auction catalog (PDF) can be downloaded here:
