camera lucidan.
/ˌkam(ə)rə ˈluːsɪdə/, U.S. /ˌkæm(ə)rə ˈlusɪdə/ Optics.† 1. An instrument or technique for projecting an image of an external object on to a surface in a lit room, comprising a convex lens placed near the object for directing light through a high opening or window in a wall. Cf. camera obscura n. Obsolete. rare.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instruments for projecting image > [noun] > camera obscura or lucida
darkroom1635
dark chamber1658
scioptric1704
dark tent1706
obscura camera1706
camera obscura1716
camera1734
camera lucida1753
box camera1828
1668 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 3 741 A Contrivance To make the Picture of any thing appear on a Wall, Cub-board, or within a Picture-frame, &c. in the midst of a Light room..or in the Night-time in any room that is enlightned..devised and communicated by the Ingenious Mr. Hook.]
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Camera Lucida, a contrivance of Dr. Hook, for making the image of anything appear on a wall in a light room, either by day or night.
2. A portable instrument for enabling the eye to see simultaneously both an object or scene and a surface on which it is to be drawn, used as an aid to drawing in art or (later) in microscopy.The instrument consists of a prism with one reflective surface mounted on a small stand that is placed on the drawing surface. The prism is so arranged that both the object and the paper can be viewed through it. Sometimes a mirror with a hole in it takes the place of the prism.
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1807 W. H. Wollaston in Philos. Mag. 3 343 (title) Description of the camera lucida.
?1834 C. Brontë Leaf from Unpublished Vol. (1986) i. 4 The evening sunbeams were..revealing the paraphernalia which usually characterizes the studio of an eminent artist... In one corner a lay figure spread its arms abroad. In another stood a large camera lucida.
1883 Manufacturer & Builder Nov. 251/1 The accompanying figures are drawn from nature by the aid of the camera lucida.
1932 R. Robison Significance Phosphoric Esters in Metabolism 99 The outline of all the figures..was drawn with the aid of either a camera lucida or a Leitz projection prism.
1984 ‘J. Gash’ Gondola Scam (1985) xxi.170 This bloke was using a camera lucida to cast reflected lines onto his canvas.
2006 Smithsonian Aug. 74/1 We're talking Polaroids here, video stills, photocopies, art by fax and, in a bold leap backward, the cumbersome camera lucida.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1753