Order

In the Optical Machine Taxonomy I use four levels to cluster optical machines into groups. The most general is Order (e.g. Show-boxes). Within orders there can be more than one family (e.g. Zograscope Family). Families can contain more than one genus (e.g. Pillar Zograscope). The smallest and most specific category is the species (e.g. Flat-Folding Zograscope.

 

Orders have emerged last as the lower categories form and possibilities for higher-level groupings emerge. Most species of optical machines are not included in defined orders.

 

All categories within this taxonomy, including order, reflect differences and similarities in structure, function and morphology as well as lineage (see below) rather than use, size or style. So, for example, the order “Show-box” is conceptualized in terms of the structural features often associated with public display for money – multiple lenses and a system for changing images – rather than the social and economic context of use. Single-lens boxes or boxes with simple manual image-change capability (e.g. ...) that we know were used for public performances are not necessarily included in the taxonomic category of “Show-box.”

 

I am not opposed to the idea that in rare cases a species of optical machine could find itself included in more than one higher category. So, for example, the Polyorama Mondo Niovo is one of a number of variants of boxes made for the popular plaque dioramique format in the mid-19^th century. There was a nexus of inspiration where designers were certainly looking at other such boxes and adding their own variations and modifications. There is a kind of “industrial lineage” here that links the Polyorama Mondo Niovo to the genus Multiple Polyoramas and to the family Boîtes Dioramiques. But the Polyorama Mondo Niovo also has two of the defining characteristics of a show-box: multiple lenses and a flytower for changing scenes. Its morphology is close to the Mondo Niovo genus of the family of Pull-String Show-Boxes. If the Polyorama Mondo Niovo was inspired by the Mondo Niovo, then we could say that it has a dual lineage. Far from being confusing or incoherent, it is rather helpful to point that out.

Families Organized by Order

Order	Family 1	Family 2	Family 3
Show-Box:	Pull-String Show-Box	Roll Show-Box	Cosmorama
Graphoscope:	Graphoscope-Graphoscope	Pontioscopio	Mini-Graphoscope

 

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