Luminous-Lint - for collectors and connoisseurs of fine photography
HOME  BACK>>> Subscriptions <<< | Testimonials | Login |

Getting around

 

HomeContentsVisual IndexesOnline ExhibitionsPhotographersGalleries and DealersThemes
AbstractEroticaFashionLandscapeNaturePhotojournalismPhotomontagePictorialismPortraitScientificStill lifeStreetWar
CalendarsTimelinesTechniquesLibrarySupport 
 

Stereographs Project

 
   Introduction 
   Photographers 
      A B C D E F G H  
      I J K L M N O P  
      Q R S T U V W X  
      Y Z  
   Locations 
   Themes 
   Backlists
 

HomeContents > People > Photographers > Robert Cornelius

Dates:  1809 - 1893
Active:  US
 
  
Pioneer American daguerreotypist.
Robert Cornelius (1809-1893) opened one of America’s first (and Philadelphia’s first) daguerreotype studios on May 6, 1840, after more than seven months of experimenting with Daguerre’s process. Cornelius was a trained metallurgist who worked in his family brass lamp manufacturing business. His metal working skills proved useful as he experimented with Daguerre’s instructions of how to create a lasting image on a silvered piece of copper. A significant breakthrough in improving the daguerreotype process came when Cornelius and his silent partner Dr. Paul Beck Goddard realized that bromine could be used as an accelerator to shorten the exposure time of the daguerreotype plate. With exposure times reduced to as short as ten to sixty seconds, it became more feasible for the public to sit for their portraits, paving the way for a commercially viable daguerreotype studio.
 
All of Robert Cornelius’s existing daguerreotypes are sixth-plates with the earliest images showing the upper third of the sitter’s body. These early images were placed in brass frames probably made in the Cornelius family lamp manufactory. In June 1841 Cornelius moved his studio from 8th Street at Lodge Alley to a new Philadelphia location at 278 (now 810) Market Street. Portraits taken in this studio were half-length poses and he began to put the finished plates in simple wood and leather cases. Although Robert Cornelius apparently closed his commercial studio in 1842 and returned to his family business, he did not completely turn his back on daguerreotyping. Several Cornelius daguerreotypes from as late as 1847 are known to exist.
 
[Sarah J. Weatherwax, Curator of Prints and Photographs, The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107]
(pers. email, Sarah Weatherwax to Alan Griffiths, 9 May 2013)
Buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA. A self-portrait of Robert Cornelius is affixed to his grave.
“Robert Cornelius’s specimens are the best that have yet been seen in this country, and we speak this with a full knowledge of the specimens shown here by Mr. Gouraurd, purporting to be, and no doubt truly, by Daguerre himself. We have seen many specimens by young Cornelius, and we pronounce them unsurpassable – they must be seen to be appreciated. Catching a shadow is a thing no more to be laughed at.” (Godey’s Lady’s Book, April 1840)

Preparing biographies

Further research

 
 Premium content for those who want to understand photography
 
References are available for subscribers.There is so much more to explore when you subscribe. 
Subscriptions 
 
Thumbnail
Robert Cornelius
Robert Cornelius, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front, with arms crossed 
1839, October-November
 
  
Family history 
  
If you are related to this photographer and interested in tracking down your extended family we can place a note here for you to help. It is free and you would be amazed who gets in touch. 
  
alan@luminous-lint.com
 
  
 
  

Visual indexes

 
 Premium content for those who want to understand photography
 
Visual indexes for this photographer are available for subscribers.There is so much more to explore when you subscribe. 
Subscriptions 
 

Internet biographies

Terms and Conditions

 
Getty Research, Los Angeles, USA has an ULAN (Union List of Artists Names Online) entry for this photographer. This is useful for checking names and they frequently provide a brief biography. Go to website
 

Useful printed stuff

If there is an analysis of a single photograph or a useful self portrait I will highlight it here.

 
• Newhall, Beaumont 1982 The History of Photography - Fifth Edition (London: Secker & Warburg) [One or more photographs by Robert Cornelius are included in this classic history.] 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
HOME  BACK>>> Subscriptions <<< | Testimonials | Login |
 Facebook LuminousLint 
 Twitter @LuminousLint