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| 1. |  | Brook Taylor (based on work by) 16th century Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century gave a description of the camera obscura Drawing Private collection This drawing is commonly found on the Internet as an illustration of the camera obscura but it is problematic. The drawing is based on an illustration by Brook Taylor in 1835 from his work Dr. Brook Taylor's Principles of Linear Perspective; or, The Art of Designing on a Plane - The Representation of all Sorts of Objects, as They Appear to the Eye (London: M. Taylor) [New Edition by Joseph Jopling]. Figure 12 on page 9 of the book is similar to this one but missing the toga-clad figure, and is to show the principles of linear perspective rather than a camera obscura. (With thanks to Dr. Theodoros Natsinas, pers. email, 27 July 2013) |
| 2. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist n.d. The first illustration of a camera obscura used to observe a solar eclipse was published in 1544 by Dutch physician and mathematician Reinerius Gemma-Frisius. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin |
| 3. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist 1685 Johann Zahn, Reflex box camera obscura, 1685 Engraving Private collection |
| 4. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist 1751 -1772 Camera obscura [l'Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers de Diderot et d'Alembert.] Engraving Private collection |
| 5. |  | J. Ouartley 1825 (ca) A drawing tent in the landscape with a lens on the top Book illustration Private collection of Jack and Beverly Wilgus Illustration from The Chautauqua Course in Physics by Dorman Steele, (Chautauqua Press, 1889) |
| 6. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist n.d. Mirror for a camera obscura Private collection |
| 7. |  | G.W. Crompton 1886-1896 (ca) Printed Advertisement for Camera Obscura, Southport Advert Museum of the History of Science Inventory No: 29441 |
| 8. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist 1860-1870s (ca) American diminutive Camera Obscura Camera obscura Stereographica - Antique Photographica Courtesy of Bryan and Page Ginns (#21 / 43) The top is marked "Patent Applied for, J. Lee, NY". It is of rather primitive design, overall very good to excellent condition. Measures 6" x 4.25" x 2.25". |
| 9. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist 1950 (built) Camera Obscura building, San Francisco, CA, built in 1950 Private collection of Jack and Beverly Wilgus |
| 10. |  | Unknown artist 1810 (ca) Silhouette of child Silhouette National Science and Media Museum Ref Number: 1990-5036/6974 |
| 11. |  | Unknown artist 18th century Silhouette portrait of an aristocrat Silhouette, with the aid of Physionotrace 15.5 x 9.6 cm (frame) 6.8 x 5.7 cm (image) Musée français de la Photographie Inventory no: 79.3352.1 |
| 12. |  | Mark Osterman 2000-2001 Roger Watson Physiognotrace Provided by the artist - Mark Osterman Silhouette made at the George Eastman House. |
| 13. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist 1793 Physionotrace des. par Fouquet et gr. par Chrétien Physionotrace Creative Commons - Wikipedia |
| 14. |  | Edme Quenedey (engraver) 1801 (ca) Physionotrace portrait of Lady Mount Cashell Physionotrace, engraving finished with etching and aquatint 19 x 15 cm NYPL - New York Public Library Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, Image ID: 1800608 |
| 15. |  | Unknown artist 18th century Portrait of a unidentified man - Bernbault (?) Physionotrace 5.7 x 4.8 cm (frame) 5.3 x 4.3 cm (image) Musée français de la Photographie Inventory no: 89.7056.1 |
| 16. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist 1807 A camera lucida in use Engraving George Eastman Museum From Chambre Claire. |
| 17. |  | Unknown maker 1840s (manufactured) British camera lucida Instrument Archive Farms |
| 18. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist n.d. Angelo Sala Engraving Creative Commons - Wikipedia Source and dating information on this engraving is requested. |
| 19. |  | Sir Thomas Lawrence 1821 (ca) Sir Humphry Davy Oil painting National Portrait Gallery - NPG |
| 20. |  | C. Laguiche 1795 (ca) Joseph Nicéphore Niépce Ink and watercolor 18.5 cm in diameter Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin HRC (964:0000:0001) |
| 21. |  | Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 1864 (published) Fig. 3 Maison de campagne des Gras, près de Chalon-sur-Saône ou Nicéphore Niépce execute ses recherches sur l'héliographie Engraving Google Books Source: "Les merveilles de la science: ou Description populaire des inventions modernes" By Louis Figuier (Paris, Furne, Jouvet et Cie, Editeurs, 1864). This engraving is in the section on "La Photographie" p. 9 |
| 22. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist 1845 Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833) Engraving Creative Commons - Wikipedia Felix Nadar, 48 Rue Bassano Paris. Heliographie von Dujardin nach einem Gemõlde von Leonard-Francois Berger 1845. Musee Denon Chalon-sur-Saone |
| 23. |  | Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 1826 (taken) 2003 (photographed) Official image of the First Photograph in 2003, minus any manual retouching, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's View from the Window at Le Gras. c. 1826 Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin Gernsheim Collection Harry Ransom Center / University of Texas at Austin Photo by J. Paul Getty Museum. |
| 24. |  | Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 1826- 1827 (ca) View from the Window at Le Gras Heliograph, Oil-treated bitumen Creative Commons - Wikipedia The first successful permanent photograph created by Nicéphore Niépce in 1826, Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. Captured on 20 x 25 cm oil-treated bitumen. Due to the 8-hour exposure, the buildings are illuminated by the sun from both right and left. On 31 July 2005 this image was selected as a picture of the day on Wikipedia and is one of the treasures of photo-history. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin. |
| 25. |  | Joseph Nicéphore Niépce 1989, 6 September (date of issue) Set of 3 from Suriname stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of photography. The stamp no. 844 (Scott) shows portrait of Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833). Postage stamp Private collection of Krzysztof Slowinski Catalog number: Scott 844 (of 844 - 846) |
| 26. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1839 Title page of "Daguerréotype et du Diorama" by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre - Showing signature Title page Archives of Modern Conflict OR National Gallery of Canada |
| 27. |  | Arthur Kaan (1867-1940, Sculptor) 1889, August (manufactured) Cast metal bust of Daguerre Sculpture 25 ins (height) Archives of Modern Conflict OR National Gallery of Canada Cast metal marked Fec. 8 89 (made August 1889) and signed A. Kaan, rear of shoulders marked Alle Rechte Vorbehalten (All Rights Reserved); |
| 28. |  | Charles Richard Meade 1848 (original Daguerreotype) 1860s (ca) Daguerre [Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre] Cabinet card Private collection of Noel Chanan The book by James D. Horan "Mathew Brady, Historian with a Camera", (New York, Bonanza Books, 1955) it explains that Brady made copies of this photograph from an original daguerreotype by Charle R. Meade of New York City. It also provides the story behind how this image was taken. |
| 29. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1822 (or later) Daguerre's Diorama in Paris Lithograph Archives of Modern Conflict OR National Gallery of Canada In 1822 at age 35 Daguerre with a partner and investors opened the Diorama in Paris. To control the lighting effects, the glass roof is necessary. This illustration was included in the lecture "The many faces of Daguerre" presented by Matt Isenburg at the Daguerreian Society Symposium (2009). (16 April 2016) Beverly Wilgus noted that the reversed title at the top of the print would be shown correctly when viewed through a Zograscope, a popular parlor amusement of the time. |
| 30. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1827, 30 June Sights of London. the Diorama - Ruins in a Fog Magazine illustration Google Books The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction (London), volume 9, No.260, June 30, 1827, p.425. Sights of London The Diorama - Ruins in a Fog The subject of the above engraving is a novel illustration for our pages; as the fine old ruin is merely an imaginative design, and does not represent a real object: nevertheless, we are assured our engraving will have many admirers, as it is a faithful copy of one of the magnificent views new exhibiting at The Diorama. This fine picture represents a Gothic Gallery falling to decay, situate at the extremity of a narrow valley, beneath barren mountains. All is sombre, desolate, and mournful; the long-drawn aisles, at a first glance, are alone perceived, for a thick fog reigns without, and such is the illusion of the scene, that you actually fancy yourself chilled by the cold and damp air. By degrees, however, the fog disperses, and through the vast arches are plainly discovered the forests of pine and larch-trees that cover the valley. The magic of this effect ot light is indeed most extraordinary, and the illusion is complete and enchanting. The execution of this picture reflects the highest honour on Mr. Daguerres, the artist, whose talents have been frequently exercised on other subjects which have been exhibited at The Diorama, but with none of which have we been more interested, than the present specimen, which entitles Mr. Daguerres to be ranked as one of the most distinguished painters that ever lived. Another picture, painted by Mr. Bouton, is exhibited with the Ruins in a Fog: it is a View of St. Cloud and Environs of Paris, and the eye wanders over a rich landscape, which embraces in ex tent about forty miles of the country adjacent to the French metropolis. At our feet runs a road, which looks arid and dusty, by the side of which lies a man sleeping, which is life itself; this portion at the picture is executed in the most masterly style. Beyond the bridge thrown over the Seine rise the fine chateau and eminences of St. Cloud, and the Lantern of Demosthenes, which, when illuminated, used to announce to the Parisians, that Napoleon had deserted their city for the palace of St. Cloud. Mount Valerian, the vineyards of Argenteuil, the mills of Sannoy, the steeple of St. Denis, may be recognized, and to the extreme right is Paris, the numerous edifices of which may be easily distinguished. In a work of such magnitude, and possessing so many claims to admiration, it is impossible to carry on a description which, at best, can but convey a feeble idea of thls magnificent picture to our reader. We shall then desist from further detail, especially as the major part of our friends will doubtless take an opportunity of visiting tlie Diorama, and passing, as we have done, an agreeable hour in viewing this highly interesting exhibition. |
| 31. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1830 Diorama, Regent's-park Book page Google Books Leigh's New Picture of London (London: Samuel Leigh, 1830), p.315 DIORAMA, Regent's-park. The Diorama, which had long been an object of wonder and delight at Paris, was first opened in London, Sept. 29,1823. It differs from the panorama in this respect, that, instead of a circular view of the objects represented, it exhibits the whole picture at once in perspective, and it is decidedly superior both to the panorama and the cosmorama in the fidelity with which the objects are depicted, and in the completeness of the illusion. The interior of the building resembles a small theatre, the part allotted to spectators consisting of a tier of boxes, elevated three or four feet above the amphitheatre or pit. Above is a circular ceiling, ornamented with transparent devices, and surrounded with medallions of eminent painters and sculptors. The whole is moveable, and is made to revolve with the spectators, at intervals of a quarter of an hour, so that as one picture recedes, the other comes gradually into view. Such is the effect produced by the disposition of the building, and by the various modifications of light and shade, that the optical deception is complete, and it is difficult for the spectator to persuade himself that he is only contemplating a work of art. Messrs. Bouton and Daguerre are the artists employed. Admission, boxes, 3s., amphitheatre, 2s., description, gratis. |
| 32. |  | Antoine Claudet 1852 M. Arago Wood engraving Private collection of Noel Chanan This wood engraving published in the Illustrated London News is based on an original Daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet. |
| 33. |  | François Arago 1839, 10 August (event) 1864 (published) Fig. 12 Arago annonce la découverte de Daguerre Engraving Google Books Source: "Les merveilles de la science: ou Description populaire des inventions modernes" By Louis Figuier (Paris, Furne, Jouvet et Cie, Editeurs, 1864). This engraving is in the section on "La Photographie" p. 41 |
| 34. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1839 Book cover of "Daguerréotype et du Diorama" by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre Book cover Archives of Modern Conflict OR National Gallery of Canada |
| 35. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1839 Title page of "Daguerréotype et du Diorama" by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre Title page Archives of Modern Conflict OR National Gallery of Canada |
| 36. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1839 L. J. M. Daguerre "Das Daguerreotyp und das Diorama" (Metzler, Stuttgart 1839) Title page Creative Commons - Wikipedia L. J. M. Daguerre: "Das Daguerreotyp und das Diorama, oder genaue und authentische Beschreibung meines Verfahrens und meiner Apparate zu Fixirung der Bilder der Camera obscura und der von mir bei dem Diorama angewendeten Art und Weise der Malerei und der Beleuchtung". Metzler, Stuttgart 1839. |
| 37. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1839 (ca) View of Boulevard du Temple Daguerreotype Bayerisches Nationalmuseum Daguerre's exposure time was so long (likely between 10 and 20 minutes) he could not capture the moving figures and traffic on this bustling Paris street. Only a man who remained still while a bootblack polished his shoes was recorded, making this anonymous individual the first person to be photographed. From the New York Observer. The following is an extract from a private letter of Professor S. F. B. Morse to the editor of the Observer, dated, Paris, March 9th. [1839]. Republished in The Farmers' Register, Vol.VII, No.5, May 31, 1839, p.258. "Objects moving are not impressed. The Boulevard, so constantly filled with a moving throng of pedestrians and carriages, was perfectly solitary, except an individual who was having his boots brushed. His feet were compelled, of course, to be stationary for some time, one being on the box of the boot-black, and the other on the ground. Consequently, his boots and legs are well defined, but he is without body or head, because these were in motion." For an analysis of this photograph: Juliet Hacking (ed.), 2012, Photography: The Whole Story, (Prestel), pp. 22-23 |
| 38. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 1839 The Pavillon de Flore and the Pont-Royal [Le Pavillion de Flore et le Pont Royal] Daguerreotype 16.2 x 21.3 cm (6 3/8 x 8 3/8 ins) Musée des arts et métiers Inv.: 08745-0001- This Daguerreotype was included in "The Dawn of Photography: French Daguerreotypes, 1839-1855" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum. |
| 39. |  | Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre 2007 Portrait of Daguerre with an Ipod Illustration Archives of Modern Conflict OR National Gallery of Canada Illustration used to promote the SPE (Society for Photographic Education) meeting on "Podcasting in Photo Education" in Miami 2007. |
| 40. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist 1853 The apparatus for the Daguerreotype Book illustration Google Books Published in "Part III - Practice of Photography" in "A Manual of Photography" (Third edition) by Robert Hunt (London: John Joseph Griffin & Co., 1853), a part of the "Encyclopeadia Metropolitana: or, System of Universal Knowledge". P.257, fig.66. The apparatus for the Daguerreotype shown in the vignette, may be enumerated with advantage. a. Is the camera obscura, with the screen upon which the image is seen, and by which the focus is adjusted, partly raised; and when this is accurately determined a screw is shown by which it is secured. b. Silver plate and edges for the same. c c. Are bromide and iodine boxes of walnut, enclosing each a stout porcelain pan: each pan is furnished with an air-tight glass cover. On the upper edge of each box is a groove for holding the plate. On withdrawing the glass cover of the iodine pan, the plate is exposed to its action, and the colour produced is observed by holding a sheet of white paper in such a position that its reflection may be seen on the plate, which enables the operator to judge of the progress of the operation. When the plate has obtained the required colour, the glass cover is pushed in, so as to cover the iodine pan, and the cover over the bromine pan is withdrawn. The plate is now removed from the iodine box and placed over the bromine box, and the colour observed as before. When the plate has received the proper amount of bromine, which is perceptible by the colour, the cover of the bromine pan is pushed in, and the plate is again placed over the iodine pan for a few seconds, until the ultimate colour required is produced, and it is then ready for removal to the camera. d. Improved Mercury Box, of walnut, with sliding legs, iron cistern, glass windows for inspecting the development of the picture, mounted with thermometer for ascertaining the temperature of the mercury ? e e Are plate holders, with clamp for securing the same. f. Is a box for holding the daguerreotype plates. g. A levelling stand, used in the fixing process, see page 251. h. A flat peculiar dish for washing, see fig. 1, page 14. i. Is a hand-buff. [Daguerreotype Apparatus No.2686 which used this illustration was also published in the No.7, March 1852, "A Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Microscopes, Tool Chests, Cabinets of Minerals, etc." (John Joseph Griffin and Company, London and Richard Griffin & Co., Glasgow).] |
| 41. |  | Unidentified photographer / artist n.d. Plate box for White's Plates Box for Daguerreian plates Larry Gottheim, Be-hold, Inc Courtesy of Larry Gottheim (Auction: Feb 21, 2008, 51, part 1 / lot 48) A wooden box with 24 slots. A label on the front of the box indicates Meade & Brother, Sole Agents, No. 2 (2d floor,) EXCHANGE, Albany. A pen inscription on the label reads "4 doz No. 1, 2 ¥ x 3 +." This must be for 2 boxes. It's interesting that the dimensions are given, rather than "1/6 plate." A bright illustrated green label on the other end reads "Daguerreotype Plates/ Finest Quality/ E. White/ 175 Broadway, N.Y./ 1 Doz. A No. 1." On top of the cover there is written boldly in pen "HANDS OFF." There are plates with images in 5 of the slots. Some edge damage to the labels. |
| 42. |  | Antoine Claudet 1844 (ca) Portrait of William Fox Talbot Daguerreotype, cased National Science and Media Museum The Royal Photographic Society, Ref Number: 2003-5001/2/20882 (Pers. communication, Facebook, 16 July 2013, Roger Watson to Alan Griffiths) This is one of three portraits of Talbot taken during the same sitting. The other two are in the British Library. Curatorial note (National Media Museum: Talbot is widely recognised as the inventor of modern photography. He spent most of his life at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire where he conducted the majority of his photographic experiments. In August 1835, Talbot made the earliest surviving photographic negative. |
| 43. |  | Antoine Claudet 1844 (ca) William Henry Fox Talbot Daguerreotype British Library Courtesy of the British Library, Shelfmark: Talbot Photo 4 The monocle around the neck of William Henry Fox Talbot is in the National Trust Collection at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, England. (Roger Watson, Curator at Lacock Abbey, FB comment, 30 January 2020) |
| 44. |  | John Moffat n.d. Henry Fox Talbot Carte de visite National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada © By kind permission of the Talbot Trust and the National Trust Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock, United Kingdom |
| 45. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1833, 5 October Sketch of Lake Como Drawing, made with a camera lucida National Science and Media Museum Courtesy of the Science and Society Picture Library. |
| 46. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1833, 6 October View towards Lecco Drawing, made with a camera lucida National Science and Media Museum Courtesy of the Science and Society Picture Library, Picture Reference: 10459450 |
| 47. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1835 or 1839 [the Oriel Window, South Gallery, Lacock Abbey] Photogenic drawing negative 8.3 x 10.7 cm (3 1/4 x 4 3/16 in). irregular Metropolitan Museum of Art The Rubel Collection, Purchase, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and Anonymous Gifts, 1997 (1997.382.1) |
| 48. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1835, August Latticed Window at Lacock Abbey Photogenic drawing Creative Commons - Wikipedia Latticed Window (with the Camera Obscura) When first made, the squares of glass about 200 in number could be counted, with the help of a lens. |
| 49. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1838, 13 December Flowers and stem Photogenic drawing National Science and Media Museum The Royal Photographic Society, Ref Number: 2003-5001/2/23359 |
| 50. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1839 Lace [Album di disegni fotogenici - The Bertoloni Album, Leaf 13 Recto] Photogenic drawing, solar microscope Metropolitan Museum of Art Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1936 (36.37.3) A enlargement of lace magnified 400 times with a solar microscope. |
| 51. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1839 Lace (enlarged detail) [Album di disegni fotogenici - The Bertoloni Album, Leaf 13 Recto] Photogenic drawing, solar microscope, detail Metropolitan Museum of Art Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1936 (36.37.3) A enlargement of lace magnified 400 times with a solar microscope. This section of the image has been captured to show the remarkable detail of the original. |
| 52. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1840 (ca) Photomicrograph of Moth Wings Calotype negative National Science and Media Museum |
| 53. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844, 1 May The Pencil of Nature Magazine page Google Books A Monthly List of all New Books Published in Great Britain sold by Mr. C. Muquardt, Bruxelles,New Series - No.XXII, May 1, 1844, p.87. The Pencil of Nature, By H. Fox Talbot, Esq. In a few days. The new art of Photography was announced to the world almost simultaneously in France and England, at the commencement of the year 1839, by M. Daguerre and by the author of the present work. The processes employed were at first kept secret, but when they became known they were found to be exceedingly different. The French method, which has received the name of the Daguerreotype, is executed upon plates of polished silver, while paper is employed in the English process. The Daguerreotype is now well known to the public, having been extensively used for taking portraits from the life, while the English art (called Fhotogenic Drawing, or the Calotype) has been hitherto chiefly circulated in private societies, and is consequently less generally known. It has been thought, therefore, that a collection of genuine specimens of the art, in most of its branches, cannot fail to be interesting to a large class of persons who have hitberto had no opportunity of seeing any well-executed specimens. It must be understood that the plates of the work now offered to the public are the pictures themselves, obtained by the action of light, and not engravings in imitation of them. This explanation is necessary, because some well-executed engravings have been published in France in imitation of photography, but they want the character of truth and reality which that art so eminently possesses. Indeed it is easy to see at once that the figures of men and animals in the foreground of the French engravings have been added only from the artist's fancy. The plates of the present work will be executed with the greatest care, entirely by optical and chemical processes. It is not intended to have them altered in any way, and the scenes represented will contain nothing but the genuine touches of nature's pencil. It is proposed to publish the work in 10 or 12 monthly parts, in quarto, price 15s. Each. Each part containing four plates, with descriptive letterpress. [Please note: The advert has been converted from a two column format in the original into a single column here for ease of reading.] |
| 54. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844 Cover for The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot [The Pencil of Nature] Book cover Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. Taken from the reproductions in Larry J. Schaaf, H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature; Anniversary Facsimile (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Inc., 1989). The originals selected for this publication were the best single examples available for each plate. Not to be reproduced without permission of H.P. Kraus, Jr. |
| 55. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844 Title page for The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot [The Pencil of Nature] Title page Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. Taken from the reproductions in Larry J. Schaaf, H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature; Anniversary Facsimile (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Inc., 1989). The originals selected for this publication were the best single examples available for each plate. Not to be reproduced without permission of H.P. Kraus, Jr. The latin quotation is taken from Book III of Virgil's Georgics. The expanded quotation reads: sed me Parnasi deserta per ardua dulcis raptat amor; iuvat ire iugis, qua nulla priorum Castaliam molli devertitur orbita clivo. But I am caught by ardent sweet ravishing desire Above the bleak Parnassian steep; I love To walk the heights, from whence no earlier track Slopes gently downward to Castalia's spring. |
| 56. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844 (published) View of the Boulevards at Paris [The Pencil of Nature, Part 1, pl. 2] Calotype Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. Taken from the reproductions in Larry J. Schaaf, H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature; Anniversary Facsimile (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Inc., 1989). The originals selected for this publication were the best single examples available for each plate. Not to be reproduced without permission of H.P. Kraus, Jr. This view was taken from one of the upper windows of the Hotel de Douvres, situated at the corner of the Rue de la Paix. The spectator is looking to the North-east. The time is the afternoon. The sun is just quitting the range of buildings adorned with columns: its faþade is already in the shade, but a single shutter standing open projects far enough forward to catch a gleam of sunshine. The weather is hot and dusty, and they have just been watering the road, which has produced two broad bands of shade upon it, which unite in the foreground, because, the road being partially under repair (as is seen from the two wheelbarrows, &c. &c.), the watering machines have been compelled to cross to the other side. By the roadside a row of cittadines and cabriolets are waiting, and a single carriage stands in the distance a long way to the right. A whole forest of chimneys borders the horizon: for, the instrument chronicles whatever it sees, and certainly would delineate a chimney-pot or a chimney-sweeper with the same impartiality as it would the Apollo of Belvedere. The view is taken from a considerable height, as appears easily by observing the house on the right hand; the eye being necessarily on a level with that part of the building on which the horizontal lines or courses of stone appear parallel to the margin of the picture. H. Fox Talbot, The Pencil of Nature, (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1844) |
| 57. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844 (published) Articles of Glass [The Pencil of Nature, Part 1, pl. 4] Calotype Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. Taken from the reproductions in Larry J. Schaaf, H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature; Anniversary Facsimile (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Inc., 1989). The originals selected for this publication were the best single examples available for each plate. Not to be reproduced without permission of H.P. Kraus, Jr. The photogenic images of glass articles impress the sensitive paper with a very peculiar touch, which is quite different from that of the China in Plate III. And it may be remarked that white china and glass do not succeed well when represented together, because the picture of the china, from its superior brightness, is completed before that of the glass is well begun. But coloured china may be introduced along with glass in the same picture, provided the colour is not a pure blue: since blue objects affect the sensitive paper almost as rapidly as white ones do. On the contrary, green rays act very feebly an inconvenient circumstance, whenever green trees are to be represented in the same picture with buildings of a light hue, or with any other light coloured objects. H. Fox Talbot, The Pencil of Nature, (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1844) |
| 58. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844 (published) Leaf of a Plant [The Pencil of Nature, Part 2, pl. 7] Calotype Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. Taken from the reproductions in Larry J. Schaaf, H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature; Anniversary Facsimile (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Inc., 1989). The originals selected for this publication were the best single examples available for each plate. Not to be reproduced without permission of H.P. Kraus, Jr. Hitherto we have presented to the reader the representations of distant objects, obtained by the use of a Camera Obscura. But the present plate represents an object of its natural size. And this is effected by quite a different and much simpler process, as follows. A leaf of a plant, or any similar object which is thin and delicate, is laid flat upon a sheet of prepared paper which is moderately sensitive. It is then covered with a glass, which is pressed down tight upon it by means of screws. This done, it is placed in the sunshine for a few minutes, until the exposed parts of the paper have turned dark brown or nearly black. It is then removed into a shady place, and when the leaf is taken up, it is found to have left its impression or picture on the paper. This image is of a pale brown tint if the leaf is semi-transparent, or it is quite white if the leaf is opaque. The leaves of plants thus represented in white upon a dark background, make very pleasing pictures, and I shall probably introduce a few specimens of them in the sequel of this work: but the present plate shews one pictured in the contrary manner, viz. dark upon a white ground: or, speaking in the language of photography, it is a positive and not a negative image of it. The change is accomplished by simply repeating the first process. For, that process, as above described, gives a white image on a darkened sheet of paper: this sheet is then taken and washed with a fixing liquid to destroy the sensibility of the paper and fix the image on it. This done, the paper is dried, and then it is laid upon a second sheet of sensitive paper, being pressed into close contact with it, and placed in the sunshine: this second process is evidently only a repetition of the first. When, finished, the second paper is found to have received an image of a contrary kind to the first; the ground being white, and the image upon it dark. H. Fox Talbot, The Pencil of Nature, (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1844) |
| 59. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844 (published) Fac-simile of an Old Printed Page [The Pencil of Nature, Part 2, pl. 9] Calotype Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. Taken from the reproductions in Larry J. Schaaf, H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature; Anniversary Facsimile (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Inc., 1989). The originals selected for this publication were the best single examples available for each plate. Not to be reproduced without permission of H.P. Kraus, Jr. Taken from a black-letter volume in the Author's library, containing the statutes of Richard the Second, written in Norman French. To the Antiquarian this application of the photographic art seems destined to be of great advantage. Copied of the size of the original, by the method of superposition. H. Fox Talbot, The Pencil of Nature, (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1844) |
| 60. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844 (published) The Ladder [The Pencil of Nature, Part 3, pl. 14] Calotype Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. Taken from the reproductions in Larry J. Schaaf, H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature; Anniversary Facsimile (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Inc., 1989). The originals selected for this publication were the best single examples available for each plate. Not to be reproduced without permission of H.P. Kraus, Jr. Portraits of living persons and groups of figures form one of the most attractive subjects of photography, and I hope to present some of them to the Reader in the progress of the present work. When the sun shines, small portraits can be obtained by my process in one or two seconds, but large portraits require a somewhat longer time. When the weather is dark and cloudy, a corresponding allowance is necessary, and a greater demand is made upon the patience of the sitter. Groups of figures take no longer time to obtain than single figures would require, since the Camera depicts them all at once, however numerous they may be: but at present we cannot well succeed in this branch of the art without some previous concert and arrangement. If we proceed to the City, and attempt to take a picture of the moving multitude, we fail, for in a small fraction of a second they change their positions so much, as to destroy the distinctness of the representation. But when a group of persons has been artistically arranged, and trained by a little practice to maintain an absolute immobility for a few seconds of time, very delightful pictures are easily obtained. I have observed that family groups are especial favourites: and the same five or six individuals may be combined in so many varying attitudes, as to give much interest and a great air of reality to a series of such pictures. What would not be the value to our English Nobility of such a record of their ancestors who lived a century ago? On how small a portion of their family picture galleries can they really rely with confidence! H. Fox Talbot, The Pencil of Nature, (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1844) |
| 61. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1844 (published) A Fruit Piece [The Pencil of Nature, Part 6, pl. 24] Calotype Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc. Taken from the reproductions in Larry J. Schaaf, H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature; Anniversary Facsimile (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Inc., 1989). The originals selected for this publication were the best single examples available for each plate. Not to be reproduced without permission of H.P. Kraus, Jr. The number of copies which can be taken from a single original photographic picture, appears to be almost unlimited, provided that every portion of iodine has been removed from the picture before the copies are made. For if any of it is left, the picture will not bear repeated copying, but gradually fades away. This arises from the chemical fact, that solar light and a minute portion of iodine, acting together (though neither of them separately), are able to decompose the oxide of silver, and to form a colourless iodide of the metal. But supposing this accident to have been guarded against, a very great number of copies can be obtained in succession, so long as great care is taken of the original picture. But being only on paper, it is exposed to various accidents; and should it be casually torn or defaced, of course no more copies can be made. A mischance of this kind having occurred to two plates in our earliest number after many copies had been taken from them, it became necessary to replace them by others; and accordingly the Camera was once more directed to the original objects themselves, and new photographic pictures obtained from them, as a source of supply for future copies. But the circumstances of light and shade and time of day, &c. not altogether corresponding to what they were on a former occasion, a slightly different but not a worse result attended the experiment. From these remarks, however, the difference which exists will be easily accounted for. H. Fox Talbot, The Pencil of Nature, (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1844) |
| 62. |  | Henry Fox Talbot 1845, April Review of "The Pencil of Nature" By Henry Fox Talbot, F.R.S. Parts I. and II. Longman & Co, Magazine page Google Books Published in "The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art", Volume 4, April, 1845, p.572 The ' Pencil of Nature' is the first attempt at photographic publication. Daguerreotype plates have been etched, but as yet no etching process has been entirely successful with them. Skilful artists, indeed, have engraved them, and from these engraved plates prints have been taken and sold as Daguerreotypes; but until Mr. Fox Talbot made this experiment, no productions, which have been entirely the result of solar influence, have passed through the publishers to the public. The experiment of photographically illustrated books is now before the world; and all who see Mr. Talbot's publication will be convinced that the promise of the art is great, and its utility and excellence, in many respects, of a high order. Whilst the French have attended only to the Daguerreotype process, and stuck to the silver plates, the English, following in the footsteps of Mr. Talbot, have diligently sought after processes of equal sensibility on paper; and their zeal in the inquiry has been well rewarded : we now possess several preparations capable of receiving images with equal rapidity with the Daguerreotype; and for the cumbrous metal, we substitute the more convenient material, paper. This process possesses the great advantages of giving us after we have procured and well fixed a good original any number of pictures of equal excellence and of unvarying fidelity, which is impossible with the Daguerreotype. |
| 63. |  | Anna Atkins 1843-1853 (published) Title page for Anna Atkins "Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions" [Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions] Cyanotype, cropped NYPL - New York Public Library Courtesy of The New York Public Library www.nypl.org, Image ID: 419632 |
| 64. |  | Anna Atkins 1843, October - 1844, May Cystoseira fibrosa [Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions. Part II] Cyanotype NYPL - New York Public Library Courtesy of The New York Public Library www.nypl.org, Image ID: 419703 |
| 65. |  | Anna Atkins 1849, November - 1850, June Dictyota dichotoma, in the young state; and in fruit. [Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions. Part XI] Cyanotype NYPL - New York Public Library Courtesy of The New York Public Library www.nypl.org, Image ID: 419608 |