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Unidentified photographer/creator 
Daguerreotype apparatus 
1843 
  
Book Illustration 
Google Books 
 
LL/34759 
  
Published in "Photographic Manipulation; containing Simple and Practical Details of the Most Improved Processes of Photogenic Drawing, The Daguerreotype and Calotype" (London: Edward Palmer, 1843), p.v-vii for the explanation of the plate.
 
Description of the Cuts
 
Fig. 1. Represents a very convenient Camera for Photographic or Calotype Drawing; it consists of a mahogany box, in the front of which is fixed a brass sliding tube, A. having an achromatic glass at one end and the diameter of the tube contracted in the front, forming what is called a stop, B. C. a small shutter for closing the aperture
 
Fig. 2. A sliding frame which fits the back of the camera; it has a piece of slate at one side for holding the prepared paper, and a sliding lid which protects it from the light, at the other. There is also a small wooden frame, which fits the same groove as the piece of slate, and is used for holding the prepared plate in the Daguerreotype operation.
 
Fig. 3. A frame holding a piece of ground glass, and slides into the same groove at the back of the camera as the sliding frame Fig. 2. It is used for ascertaining the focus which is adjusted by the rack and sliding tube in the front of the camera.
 
Fig. 4. Represents a small mirror capable of being fixed on the sliding tube A. of the camera, by means of a screw. As all objects in the camera obscura appear reversed, that is, all right hand objects will appear to the left in the picture, and vice versa, it is of great importance in many instances to obtain the pictures as they appear in Nature; this is accomplished by the small reflecting mirror, which has the effect of reversing the objecti in the camera, and thin rendering the picture correct; when used, it must be turned toward the object to be copied till a perfect representation is observed on the ground glass.
 
When the mirror is employed, the time required to produce a picture is generally doubled.
 
Fig. 5. The Iodine Box. It consists of a mahogany box lined with glass, with four projecting pieces of glass near the top, for the corners of the plate to rest upon while being iodined. The box is either furnished with card at the bottom, to be saturated with a solution of iodine when going to be used, and a plate of glass to lay over it to prevent useless evaporation, or a quantity of iodine is spread over the bottom and covered with one or two layers of cotton-wool, over which is placed a piece of card-board capable of being reversed when required. When a plate is to be prepared, the side of the card which is downwards and consequently saturated with the vapour of the iodine, should have its position reversed, so that the evaporation from its surface may give an even coating to the plate. By this arrangement one surface of the card is always in a fit state for use, and will only require its position to be altered each time a trial is made.
 
While iodizing a plate, the box should be covered with its lid, as it prevents the possibility of any draft of air, which might prevent the plate from being equally coated over its surface.
 
It is hardly necessary to state that the iodine box, when not in use, should be kept covered with its lid, as that will not only keep the box in a proper state for use, but prevent waste.
 
Fig. 6. Represents a section of the Bromine Apparatus, is made of black, yellow, or red glass; A. the bottom division of the glass, where the solution of bromine is placed; B. shows the position of the plate resting by its corners over the solution; C. a plate of glass which fits air tight over the apparatus.
 
Fig. 7. The Mercury Box. The body is made of mahogany; at the bottom is an iron cup for holding the mercury. At one of its sides and also in the front is a small window of yellow glass, and on the - under part of the lid is placed a slide of plate iron for holding the silver plate, while being exposed to the fumes of Mercury.
 
Fig. 8. A brass spirit-lamp for heating the mercury in the mercury box, furnished with a sliding ring of wire, very useful for supporting the silver plate over the flame of the lamp while fixing, &c. Fig. 9. Plate Cleaner. It consists of a small board, the size of the plate, mounted on a block of wood, which can be fastened to a table by means of a clamp; at one corner of the board is a small piece of brass having a small hole in its upper part, just sufficient to hold the corner of the plate to be cleaned; at the opposite side there is another similar piece of brass, made to slide, that it may be adapted to the various sizes of the plates.
 
Fig. 10. Velvet Buff. A piece of wood about fourteen inches long, and from three to four inches wide, evenly covered with three or four folds of well-washed white cotton velvet.
 
Fig. 11. Represents a form of box very convenient for preserving Daguerreotype Plates after they are polished, or when prepared.
 
The card-board used should be black or of a dark colour. 
 

 
  
 
  
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