1890 CARL ZEISS JENA Anastigmat-Weitwinkel 240mm f/18 lens No. 39 For your consideration, here is Carl Zeiss Jena lens No. 39, a 240mm f/18 Anastigmat-Weitwinkel (a wide-angle anastigmat) in a massive brass barrel with wheels stops, produced in 1890. It has the patent angemeldet stamp, therefore predating Dr. Paul Rudolph's landmark patent from that same year for the anastigmat optical formula (renamed and eventually trademarked by Zeiss as the Protar around 1900), and is among the earliest surviving examples from the first year of Carl Zeiss lens production. CZJ lenses with three-digit serial numbers are certainly rare enough, but only nine examples have been recorded with two-digit serial numbers, and this No. 39 is the fourth lowest number ever seen. It is also, without a doubt, the most perfectly preserved example ever seen among these earliest numbers. The following year, the initial mass produced market versions of this variant of Rudolph's anastigmat optical design, as presented in CZJ's very first catalog of photographic optics, were decidedly lighter and more compact, as the angle of coverage was dropped from 110 to 100 degrees in order to provide a more affordable lens. The huge hemispherical rear element cell that was proposed in the patent design must have been prohibitively expensive to manufacture, so Zeiss reduced the size and curvature. In this sense, although fully finished for public consumption, these two-digit pre-1891 lenses may be seen as evolving prototype variants, and in some cases they appear to be unique in assembly and presentation. This particular lens originated in the famous Carl Zeiss lens collection, the firm's own patent museum, which was liberated from Germany in 1945 after World War II, and eventually dispersed in the 1970's. Over time I've been very fortunate to acquire a large number of lenses attributed to the Zeiss collection, and for the past three years I've used them as the focal point of my research into the very beginnings of Carl Zeiss Jena photographic lens production. My research is essentially completed, I'm now in the writing phase, and I no longer need to keep so many of the lenses. Therefore this lens No. 39 is now available for purchase. It's in truly excellent original condition, complete with its proper original matching heavy brass mounting flange that is also factory stamped No. 39. If you are seriously interested in acquiring this lens, please contact David Silver directly at silver@well.com, thank you! Meanwhile, if you'd like to see more treasures from the Carl Zeiss Jena lens collection, please click here for a short survey of some of the highlights that have been rediscovered and preserved.