Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

BROADCAST TELEVISION 1935-1937 "LOST" RECORDS OF LOS ANGELES' FIRST TELEVISION STATION LUBCKE, HARRY R. & others. 2 cloth binders, 4to, approximately 450 pp total, labeled on spine: "Receiver / 1936-7" & "Camera / 1937," Los Angeles, 1935-1937, image 1
BROADCAST TELEVISION 1935-1937 "LOST" RECORDS OF LOS ANGELES' FIRST TELEVISION STATION LUBCKE, HARRY R. & others. 2 cloth binders, 4to, approximately 450 pp total, labeled on spine: "Receiver / 1936-7" & "Camera / 1937," Los Angeles, 1935-1937, image 2
Lot 17

BROADCAST TELEVISION 1935-1937
"LOST" RECORDS OF LOS ANGELES' FIRST TELEVISION STATION
LUBCKE, HARRY R. & others. 2 cloth binders, 4to, approximately 450 pp total, labeled on spine: "Receiver / 1936-7" & "Camera / 1937," Los Angeles, 1935-1937,

5 November 2020, 10:00 PST
Los Angeles

Sold for US$3,187.50 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

BROADCAST TELEVISION 1935-1937

"LOST" RECORDS OF LOS ANGELES' FIRST TELEVISION STATION
LUBCKE, HARRY R. & others. 2 cloth binders, 4to, approximately 450 pp total, labeled on spine: "Receiver / 1936-7" & "Camera / 1937," Los Angeles, 1935-1937, being the technical records of Los Angeles television station W6XAO, consisting of manuscript material, typed documents, original circuit diagrams, blueprints, photographs, etc.

Los Angeles Cadillac dealer Don Lee branched out into the broadcast world in 1926 with the purchase of KFRC in San Francisco. He continued to buy a number of stations along the California Coast and formed the Don Lee network, which was affiliated with Columbia Broadcasting System. He was given a license to begin experimental television broadcasts in 1931 with station W6XAO. The early broadcasts consisted of still images at a low resolution, but by the time of the present technical records, and under the leadership of Lee's son Tommy Lee, the station was pushing the boundaries with higher resolution images and synchronized picture and sound.

The technical mastermind behind the station was young engineer Harry R. Lubcke, who had begun his career in television working with Philo T. Farnsworth in 1929 and later would go on to be the third president of the Television Academy. Many of the manuscript notes throughout the two volumes are from Lubcke, but also by Wilbur E. Thorp and William S. Klein. Included are notes and plans on ultra high frequency receivers, much on transmitters, many strategies at synchronization, parts lists for various components, technical explorations of particular components and circuits, detailed performance sheets titled "Reception Reports," which provide some indication of what was broadcast throughout the day, technical analysis of the broadcasts and detailed description of the many experiments and tests the engineers performed. The binder also includes an 8 x 10-inch photograph of Lubcke demonstrating television at California Institute of Technology's Annual Exhibit as well as 3 smaller photographs showing Lubcke standing beside the transmitting antenna atop the Don Lee Building and the receiving antenna at Caltech. The first album ends with some programming sheets for the Paramount news presentation that detail the stories covered including notes on the picture quality.
The second album deals with all aspects of the television camera and capturing images: camera design, mount, lenses, lighting, supply lists, signal amplification, much on synchronization, etc.
From the second album: "Puppets offer several advantages to television production: (1) they can be illuminated intensely, (2) they are not as expensive as living actors, and (3) they can be operated on small stages."
A fascinating look into the experimental era of television broadcasting.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

ADVERTISING POSTERfor 'The Suffragette' newspaper, [c.1913-1914]

ARCHITECTURE - STUART (JAMES) AND NICHOLAS REVETT The Antiquities of Athens, 4 vol. bound in 2, 1825-1830

ILLUMINATED ADDRESS – CLARA CODD Illuminated printed address signed by Emmeline Pankhurst, [1909]

ARMENIAN - HISTORY, THEOLOGY AND PRINTING. Group of books/a map in Armenian, c.1825-1901 (12)

MUSIC & RECORDINGS – ETHEL SMYTH Collection of printed music, song sheets and records, [c.1911-1912]

BANK NOTES - MANUFACTURING BRADBURY (HENRY) On the Security and Manufacture of Bank Notes, FIRST EDITION, Bradbury and Evans, 1856