DAGUERREOTYPE Journal Year 1 Issue N

DAGUERREOTYPE journal Year 1 Issue N. 0 | June 2014 Sharing the International Cultural and Visual Heritage of Daguerreotypes

HISTORICAL NOTES MEET THE COLLECTOR National Treasure Discovered in a Shoebox Colour and the Daguerreotype LOOKING AT REALITY THE DAGUERREOTYPE STUDIO Daguerreian Pictures. From Silver to Paper Baron Séguier’s Daguerreotype Equipment TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover Image 4 EDITORIAL

6 EUROPEAN DAGUERREOTYPE ASSOCIATION

9 NOTES FOR YOUR DIARY 2014 The Daguerrian Society Symposium

10 CURRENT RESEARCH If the Sky is Falling? by Keith F. Davis

12 MEET THE COLLECTOR Colour and the Daguerreotype by Michael G. Jacob

20 HISTORICAL NOTES Photographer Unknown National Treasure Discovered in a Shoebox Daguerreotype, 1845 - 1847 by Wlodek Witek Istituto nazionale per la grafica Collection Lanfiuti Baldi, inv. 6085 (by permission of ING) 30 LOOKING AT REALITY Daguerreian Pictures. From Silver to Paper For full description see by Maria Francesca Bonetti Daguerreobase

44 THE DAGUERREOTYPE STUDIO Baron Séguier’s Daguerreotype Equipment by Nicholas Burnett

56 ON THE MATERIALITY OF IMAGES How to Protect a Daguerreotype? by Herman Maes 3 DAGUERREOTYPE journal QUARTERLY ISSUE N.O

[email protected] www.daguerreobase.org FB /Daguerreobase

PUBLISHER EDA, European Daguerreotype Association for the Daguerreobase Project

EDITOR Sandra Maria Petrillo for the Daguerreobase Project

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Giulia Agostinelli

TRANSLATION Tha article Daguerreian Pictures. From Silver to Paper was translated by Tristam Bruce

THANKS TO Michael G. Jacob, adviser for Issue N.0

Send your proposal for the next Issue to [email protected]

The DAGUERREOTYPE JOURNAL is produced in the context of the Daguerreobase Project

“This project is partially funded under the ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) as part of the competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme by the European Community” http://ec.europa.eu/ict_psp EDITORIAL 5

Sharing the International Cultural and Visual Heritage of Daguerreotypes

More than any other type of photographic image, from the moment of their invention, daguerreotypes were widely perceived as perfect reflections of reality. Daguerreotypes learned people to see the world photographically for the very first time, and still today we often regard them with a similar sense of wonder. We are attracted by their captivating beauty and their extraordinary high definition that make them almost seem to be magical windows, opening up a vista directly into our past. Thus they appear to be “time capsules”, in the words of one enthusiastic collector. Universal recognition of daguerreotypes as unique and valuable artefacts has made it urgently necessary not only to preserve them from the ravages of time but also to explore and develop more thoroughly the great range and variety of cultural studies that these images can offer us today. The desire to share our passion for the daguerreotype was the main motivation for founding this free online publication, which is dedicated to words and images concerning the aesthetics, the science, the history and the art of creating daguerreotype images, in the past as well as now. We very much hope that you will enjoy it! We wish to thank the European Union for their important financial contribution to the Daguerreotype Journal, a publication that has been launched in connection with the Daguerreobase Project. To view a selection of daguerreotype pictures that are currently conserved in various important European public institutions and private collections please click on the following link:

www.daguerreobase.org EDA The European Daguerreotype Association (EDA) Has Been Founded!

The European Daguerreotype chniques of 19th century pho- residence of Louis Daguerre. Association, or EDA, is an in- tography. After the completion of the ternational non-profit asso- We will offer access to a con- “Daguerreobase” project we ciation of photography enthu- stantly growing worldwide wish to make sure that this siasts, with a special interest network of curators, conser- unique database will be easily in the history and the art of vators, museums, teachers, accessible and constantly the daguerreotype. The EDA specialists, collectors and pri- expanding as a unique source intends to deal with the vate owners. of primary information, as expansion and maintenance We will share our knowledge well as to create a large of Daguerreobase, an active regarding the techniques and international community of EU-financed database that practise of early photography, people who are passionate will contain over 25,000 de- in addition to the various of the daguerreotype. We scriptions of daguerreotypes aspects of its use as an therefore wish to invite you in public and private Europe- expressive medium, and we to become a member of our an collections. We will work intend to become a strong community, to share our on aggregation of new infor- and interactive community. common interests, and to mation on the early history The partners of the EDA build with us a long-lasting of photography, enrichment have already proposed European Daguerreotype of existing descriptions of organizing workshops, as Association! If you wish to daguerreotypes in public and well as offering their expert share your enthusiasm for the private collections and lin- assistance and advice Daguerreotype by supporting king with other collections, regarding publications, the this project you too can now museums, institutes and col- maintenance of collections, become a member of the lectors. Our aim is to build an education and teaching. Last “European Daguerreotype authentic source for 19th cen- but not least, we will organise Association”! tury European photography conferences, meetings and a The European Daguerreotype Associa- heritage research. special annual symposium or tion has been founded according to The EDA will encourage the excursion to various different study of the art of daguerre- locations all over Europe. Belgian law as a 100% non-profit orga- otype, including the preser- EDA is now planning its first nisation, or “Vereniging zonder win- vation and conservation of international meeting in stoogmerk” (VZW). Gifts or donations original daguerreotype plates, 2015 in Bry-sur-Marne near are accepted and appreciated, but we and its relation with other te- Paris, which was the last are not registered for tax purposes. EDA BOARD ANN DECKERS, President HANS GUMMERSBACH, Vice President WOUTER LAMBRECHTS, Secretary HERMAN MAES, Treasurer AGNES WIJERS, Member

THE BOARD OF EDA INVITES YOU TO BECOME A MEMBER! Please contact us at: [email protected] or complete the application form on daguerreobase

Institutional Member € 100 Private / Individual Member € 50 Student Member € 25

Membership fees are payable on a yearly basis 7

EDA Invitation Card v3.indd 1 13/05/14 16:23 CONTRIBUTORS

KEITH F. DAVIS is the senior curator of photography at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Since 1979 he has curated some 80 exhibitions, many of which have travelled to important museums in the United States and internationally. In addition to teaching and lecturing widely on the history of photography, he is the author of nearly twenty catalogues and books. More info

MICHAEL JACOB has been collecting daguerreotypes for 35 years. He is the author of Il Dagherrotipo a Colori (Firenze, Nardini Editore, 1992) and Colour and the Daguerreotype: “The Great Problem is Fairly Solved…” (Pittsburgh, Daguerreian Society Annual, 1997). Michael and his wife, Daniela De Gregorio, write crime fiction together under the pen-name of Michael Gregorio. Their novels include Critique of Criminal Reason and A Visible Darkness. More info

WLODEK WITEK has been working on the conservation of paper and photographs for over 25 years. He has catalogued the Fridtjof Nansen collection of photographs as well as the Morgenstierne multimedia archive for the Library of the University of Oslo. He now works as a paper and photograph conservator at the National Library of Norway. He is one of the very few practicing calotypists in the present day. More Info

MARIA FRANCESCA BONETTI is an art historian employed at the Ministry of Culture in Italy and since 1999 she has been the curator of the department of photography at the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica in Rome. She has contributed to the definition and diffusion of various guidelines and methodologies for the management and cataloguing of photographs. She has curated various contemporary and historical photography exhibitions and has edited numerous catalogues. More Info

NICHOLAS BURNETT is an experienced and accredited conservator of photographs and works of art on paper. He is currently the director of Museum Conservation Services Ltd, a company working for museums, historic houses, art galleries and private individuals. He has thirty years of experience working in the field of museums as well as the private sector. More Info

HERMAN MAES is senior photographic materials conservator and head of the conservation department of the Netherlands Photo Museum of Rotterdam. He is visiting lecturer at the University of Leiden, where he teaches historical photographic and photomechanical techniques, and he frequently holds workshops on the conservation and preservation of photographs. More Info NOTES FOR YOUR DIARY SEPTEMBER 26-29, 2014 AUSTIN, TEXAS The Daguerreian Society Symposium

The 2014 Daguerreian Society gn the interests of our mem- and exhibition. Society mem- Symposium will be held in Au- bers, the Society has formally bers include contemporary stin, Texas on September 26- expanded its mission to reflect Daguerreian creators as well 29. An initial agenda for the its focus on the evolution and as collectors and academics Symposium is available, and impact of photography du- studying the aesthetic, social more detail will be made avai- ring the entire Daguerreian and cultural impacts of early lable on the web site as ad- era. The art, science, and photography. ditional plans are confirmed. social and cultural impact of The Society hosts an annual The Texas State Library and photography in the mid-19th symposium with presenta- Archives will provide the ve- century has been of primary tions on emerging research nue for our reception on Fri- interest to the Society and as and photographic history in day. a result, collectors and insti- addition to its trade show and tutions have studied the re- tours of collections. Publica- levant processes and formats tions include a Quarterly and THE DAGUERREIAN SOCIETY that evolved during the Da- Annual, typically including guerreian Era. over 300 pages of original ar- The Society was created by In addition to the daguerre- ticles by researchers, collec- collectors inspired by the ma- otype (for which the Society tors and institutions. gic of the daguerreotype and was originally named) are the Responses to a recent call for the early history of photo- interconnected impacts of papers included broad com- graphy to the period just after invention and development munities of scholars in Ameri- the Civil War. of photography processes in- can studies, photographic and This association has a rich 25- cluding calotypes and early art history, conservation and year history of research and paper processes, cyanotypes, related topics. In addition the scholarship regarding the so- ambrotypes, tintypes, cartes– recent call has begun effor- cial and cultural influence of de–visites, stereographs, early ts to provide peer review for photography during the Da- cabinet cards, and the myriad publications of the Society, guerreian era. Initially foun- of experimental techniques increasing its potential im- ded as a collector’s organiza- that developed during this pact in academic and museum tion, the Daguerreian Society time. In addition to studying communities. has evolved to a coalition of the daguerreotype and impact interest parties that includes of early photographic proces- FOR ADDITIONAL libraries, museums, historical ses, the Society addresses is- INFORMATION CONTACT: associations and academic re- sues ranging from research re- Jeremy Rowe searchers. garding individual images and [email protected] While strongly influenced by collections, to understanding or Diane Filippi the Daguerreotype, the So- the technical and creative [email protected] ciety strives to addresses the processes, and conservation or visit www.daguerre.org full range of early photo- of historic images in terms graphic processes. To help ali- of care, treatment, storage Jeremy Rowe, President of The Daguerrian Society CURRENT RESEARCH To Show or not to Show Daguerreotypes?

Today, more than ever before, daguerreotypes are recognised as being a “unique and irre- placeable” part of the world’s cultural heritage. The past few years were rich with new researches in the field of their preservation and conservation and currently special attention is given to safe methods of displaying and exhibiting these precious images.

The Winter 2013 issue of The Daguerreian Society Quarterly (September-December) published an editorial by Keith F. Davis, Senior Curator of Photography at the Nelson-Atkins Museum titled “ Is the Sky Falling? ” inspired by the well known case of the Young America The Daguerreotypes of Southworth & Hawes exhibition, organized in 2005 by the George Eastman House and the International Center of Photography. Exhibition catalogue

The Daguerreian Society has agreed to share this article and other relevant publications with our journal, and we are planning reciprocate to inspire a broader discussion that will also involve European institutions, curators and conservators. If the Sky is Falling? by Keith F. Davis,The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City - Missouri

Daguerreotypes have been “in the news” the dramatically and another 25 slightly. Most of last year or two, but in ways that have be- these changes involved a “disfiguring bloom come increasingly worrisome. We are con- or white haze” that developed in the exhi- cerned about both the logic and the scope bit’s first month. Initially, at least, a profes- of the claims, or warnings, that have been sional consensus formed around the presump- made about the potential “light sensitivi- tion that, over the course of their history, the ty” of daguerreotypes and thus, the danger plates have been exposed to sodium chlori- of exhibiting them. This is an issue of huge de. This chemical on reaction to the silver importance to institutions that have and/ surface, formed light-sensitive silver chlori- or desire to show daguerreotypes. We aim de compounds that then printed-out under to observe the highest of professional stan- exposure of light. dards, but this concern seems unsupported Since the 2005-2006 exhibit, research has to us by actual experience and evidence. moved in various directions, including new Some of these media reports border an apo- attention to the nano-structure of the da- calypse. Under headlines such “A Vanishing guerreotype plate, the presence of organic Past?”, and “Scientists Attempt to Save materials on the surface, the effect of expo- Disintegrating Artworks” we are told that sing plates to very high-energy UV radiation, “daguerreotypes…may be deteriorating be- and the possibility of contaminants from fore your eyes. No one knows exactly why, modern materials used to protect these for- or how to save them”. Despite the qualifi- merly uncased plates. It has been suggested cations and question marks, much of this that environmental conditions alone, without reporting strikes us as extreme and misle- exposure to light, could also produce the di- ading. sfiguring white haze. At present, work conti- As we know, the core problem here is nues on several fronts, but without definitive real, but very specific. In the 2005-2006 answers. Southworth & Hawes exhibition “Young We have enormous respect for both the se- America”, some daguerreotypes exhibited riousness of the original issue and the talents visible and rapid deterioration while on di- of all those now involved in research. Howe- splay. Of the show’s 160 plates, 5 changed ver, we are unhappy that the fields remains 11 in a sort of conceptual limbo: dire warnings bitions? The fact of these past shows, and the have been made, but little or no new infor- condition of all the included daguerreotypes, mation of practical value has been genera- is of critical and central importance to this ted. “generalisation” issue. The key problem now is one of clarity of de- The collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum finition. The original “Southworth & Hawes of Art (formerly Hallmark Photographic Col- problem” has been inflated by some into a lection) has been active enough to yield “a vastly larger and, in our view, entirely spe- significant number of “test cases”. A handful culative “daguerreotype problem”. This of these plates were exhibited in 1995; these sweeping generalization is problematic. To and many more were then included in major our knowledge, all of the plates that have shows in 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2013- as well ever changed rapidly on exhibition were as in the on-going collection rotations, since by Southworth & Hawes. Most importantly, mid-2007, in the NAMA photography galleries. they shared a common provenance history: In all cases, exhibit illumination conformed all had been stored together, for many de- to generally accepted levels. A highly tech- cades, in the legendary S&H Studio Col- nical monitoring protocol was not in place lection. To date, we have not seen a single to evaluate these plates on a before – and - documented instance of any non–S&H pla- after basis (and this remains a practical chal- te, or, more precisely, any non-S&H Studio lenge). However, an important lesson of the Collection plate, showing signs of light-sen- 2005 S&H case is that if such changes were sitivity in the course of exhibition. going to happen, they would have happened Logically it is impossible to prove a nega- quickly and they would be obvious to naked tive. If we are asked “Can you prove that eye. We have seen no such changes in any of all daguerreotypes are not potentially li- our plates – S&H and non S&H, alike – as a re- ght-sensitive?” we must answer “no”. But, sult of our exhibition history. And in informal that isn’t a productive question: it can only conversation with other curators and conser- lead to paralysis. Instead the practical que- vators, we have not been told of any docu- stion is something like this : “Is it legiti- mented 2005-type changes at other institu- mate to generalize our concern over the tions. These facts carry significant weight. S&H problem to all daguerreotypes?”. The This lack of hard evidence for any non-S&H logical response here should be “Only if we light-induced deterioration suggests strongly have actual evidence that the problem is that what was seen in 2005 is not a gene- generic”. ral “daguerreotype” problem at all. Rather, As it happens, the data for that determina- it is specific to a single set of plates with a tion is everywhere around us, in the sum of unique, shared history of processing, han- all other daguerreotype exhibitions in our dling and storage. Lacking evidence to the lifetimes. The changes in 2005 to the S&H contrary, we emphasize the importance of plates in question were rapid and (in five in- stressing this narrative – the facts we firmly stances) dramatic. The key question here is know to be true – rather than encouraging, or this: has any other comparable deteriora- allowing, others to make far more dramatic tion been seen in non S&H Studio Collection but unproven suggestions. Plates in any of these numerous other exhi- MEET THE COLLECTOR

Colour And the Daguerreotype Imagine a world in black and white To our eyes, something would obviously be missing by Michael G. Jacob, private collector

Ill 1, Tinted portrait of young woman. Daguerreotype attributed to Vincenzo Bassoni of Spoleto. Collection Michael G. Jacob. See on Daguerreobase 13 aguerre’s marvellous in- tion of the process with halo- his rapidly expanding portrait vention captured an infi- gens (chlorine, bromine, io- business, and he set out to Dnite range of greys from dine), better lenses, smaller remedy the omission. In the black to white. In terms of cameras and smaller plates, British Patent 9292 of March all of which reduced exposu- accuracy, the daguerreotype 10th 1842 entitled Colouring re times from minutes to se- was a step ahead of all pre- Daguerreotype Pictures, conds by 1842. vious forms of artistic repre- Richard Beard described sentation (paintings, drawings three principal methods of In this fine Italian example [Ill. and the engravings which de- colouring daguerreotypes and 2, 2a] dated 12.5.1842, all the rived from them), but the co- he claimed them all as his elements of the presentation lours of Nature were absent, own, though they were, in – the brown leather case, as Daguerre himself recogni- fact, already in widespread the gold leaf decorations, sed. In his manual of 1839, he use throughout Europe and the royal blue backing paper describes how to obtain “la America: reproduction spontanée des and the floral dedication in coloured ink – serve to remind images de la nature reçues a) the Johann Baptist Isenring us that this portrait is without dans la chambre noire, non method, which involved the colour. avec leur couleurs…” use of paper masks to isolate It may be beautiful, and it And yet, there was one areas on which one or more may be accurate, but it is not exception to this observation. transparent colours mixed natural. with gum could be laid on the If the silver plate was over- surface of the silver plate in exposed to the fumes of METHODS OF COLOURING the form of a fine powder; mercury during development, pure white would turn to Richard Beard secured the exclusive right to use the b) the Chevalier method, which ‘impure’ blue. This effect was applied either transparent or daguerreotype process in known as solarisation. It was a opaque colours to the inside England in June 18412 and as chemical accident which had of the glass which covered the official “patentee”, he nothing to do with the colours and protected the fragile soon set up daguerreotype of Nature, but the unwanted daguerreotype plate; appearance of blue may have portrait studios in London and elsewhere, using an American accentuated the absence of c) the direct application of speculum camera made by all the other colours on the pigments – notably gold – J. Johnson & A. Wolcott for daguerreotype plate. directly onto the silver plate which he had already obtained by means of a fine brush or the exclusive use in England As Richard Beard wrote in ‘pencil’ after the introduction in June, 1840. Beard cornered 1843, just four years after of gold-toning. Daguerre’s invention was the daguerreotype market announced: “It was COLOUR in England (with the sole that was wanting to crown exception of Antoine Claudet, all the other improvements a Frenchman living in London, COLOURING BY HAND and give perfection to the who had bought a license The Isenring method consisted of the application of dry whole”1. directly from Daguerre), but he soon realised that the lack of pigment mixed with adhesive The ‘other improvements’ gum in powdered form by included chemical accelera- colour was a major setback to

1 Richard Beard, “Further Improvements in Photography” (The Steamhouse Press, London, 1843). A copy of this rare pamphlet is located in Photographic Box 4, The John Johnson Collection, The Bodleian Library, Oxford 2 Gernsheim, H. and A., L.J.M. Daguerre – The History of the Diorama and the Daguerreotype (Do- ver, New York, 1968), Chapter VI, The Daguerreotype in Britain MEET THE COLLECTOR

Ill 2, 2a. Italian man in folding case, 1842. Collection Michael G. Jacob 15

Ill 3, 3a and 3b. Young woman profile in a blue dress, 1842 - 43. Collection Michael G. Jacob masking off the parts of the been extensively coloured picture which would not with both transparent Transparent colours allowed be coloured. When enough and opaque pigments. In the underlying photographic pigment had settled on the particular, wet gold paint has details to be seen, while plate, the colour was fixed been used skilfully to form the opaque colours, especially in place by breathing on the shadows of the chair back, gold, were applied wet and plate. Illustration 3 is an early and to sketch in the pattern obscured the details as they example from an unidentified of the tablecloth. Chemical dried out and set hard on the British studio, which appears solarisation has also added a plate. In both cases, a fixative to have been made with a delicate shade of blue to the such as gum Arabic was mixed mask, allowing the deposition sitter’s bright white bodice, with the pigment. When a of a dense blue pigment on while the blue sky may have tinted plate is turned to its the surface of the plate. In been solarised on purpose. negative plane beneath a addition, the young woman’s The clouds are painted in source of light, areas treated eyes have been tinted blue, opaque white pigment mixed with wet paint will be opaque, probably with a fine brush. with sweet, sticky wine, a while transparent colours will The oval quarter-plate method attributed to Antoine ‘cloud’ the surface without daguerreotype [Ill. 4] has Claudet. obscuring the photographic MEET THE COLLECTOR

Ill 4. Oval tinted portrait of a woman, 1848 - 50. Collection Michael G. Jacob 17 details. The alternative approach to to produce colour by chemical Illustration 5, 5a and 5b has colouring daguerreotypes means on the silver plate. also been lightly tinted with derived from accidental They took portraits in the a mixture of transparent and ‘solarisation.’ normal way, then protected opaque colours. In addition, a If blue could be produced by the central image with a mask “nosegay” or sprig of flowers accident, then it could be or frame before exposing the has been painted onto the produced on purpose, too. This plate to vapours of heated underside of the cover-glass, was the logic behind various mercury a second time. using the method mentioned patents which were registered Illustration 6 displays some of by Charles Chevalier in his in the USA in the 1840s and the limited decorative effects manual of 1841. The detail 1850s describing forms of which this sort of intentional is not photo¬graphic, and chemical manipulation which chemical manipulation could was added, perhaps on produced colour on the produce with ease on the request, or else at the whim daguerreotype plate after it daguerreotype plate, while of the colourist. We have had been exposed to light. the brightly-lit example, no idea of the young man’s The first patent of this kind, Illustration 7, may well be true complexion, although the Daniel Davis Jnr. method what Henry Insley described his ruddy cheeks appears to (US Patent 2826, 22nd October, in his patent as an Illuminated be freckled beneath a light 1842) was probably used for Daguerreotype3. dusting of dry-applied rouge. little else excepting gold- toning the daguerreotype by electrolysis. This treatment THE HELIOCHROME THE DEMISE OF THE added a richer tonality to both Ultimately, perfection would MINIATURE the lighter and darker areas have been reached with an Many painters of miniature of the plate, and rendered ‘improved’ daguerreotype portraits turned their hand the image less susceptible to process which reproduced to daguerreotype colouring damage when pigment was the colours of Nature on the as the art trade declined. applied with a fine brush. silver plate. French scientists The skills required of these However, a decade later, such as Edmond Becquerel artists were minimal as a rule, other American practitioners and Abel Niépce de Saint- though we sometimes see a refined methods of chemical Victor managed to capture finely tinted daguerreotype colouring which added an the colours of the spectrum plate which reflects the detail extra dimension to the on a daguerreotype plate, which was commonplace in aesthetic presentation of though these were of strictly painted miniatures of the first daguerreotypes portraits. scientific interest. Then, in half of the nineteenth century. November, 1850, an American daguerreotypist named Levi In Illustration 8, 8a, and THE MAGIC BACKGROUND L. Hill published a manual 8b, from the Regent Street Charles J. Anthony patented entitled “The Magic Buff”. studio of William E. Kilburn in his “Magic Background” Many people thought it st London, the officer’s uniform process (US Patent 7865, 1 was a magic “bluff”, and a has been extensively coloured January, 1851), while Henry heated controversy ensued. th with dry (red) and wet (gold) Insley (US Patent 8633, 6 Hill claimed to be able to pigment. The capability of the January, 1851) and William produce blue, red, violet unknown colourist is evident. Yarnell (US Patent 9511, 28th and orange on a single plate COLOURING BY CHEMICAL December, 1852) offered and in one operation. Hill did MEANS variant methods which aimed not complete his research

3These processes are described in detail by Rinhart, F. and M., The American Daguerreotype (Athens, Ge- orgia University Press, 1981), and Chiesa G. and Gosio G., Dagherrotipia, Ambrotipia, Ferrotipia (printed by the authors, 2013) MEET THE COLLECTOR “It was colour that was wanting to crown all the other improvements and give perfection to the whole”

and publish his manual, Institution (Cat. 3999.1 to “Heliochromy: the Production Did he really manage to pro- 3999.62), which suggest that of Pictures, by Means of Light, duce daguerreotypes which Hill did invent a true colour in Natural Colours” until 1856, mirrored the colours of Natu- daguerreotype process. however, by which time the re? daguerreotype was already Unfortunately for him and losing ground to the cheaper Hill’s application for a US for us, the operation was too ambrotype (wet collodion patent was refused. The complicated, and it arrived positive) process. only proof we have are too late. But that’s another There has been much the 62 ‘Hillotypes’ which story… discussion in the past 150 belong to the Museum of years of Levi Hill’s claims. American History, Smithsonian

Ill 5, 5a, 5b. Young man with nosegay, 1844 - 46 Collection Michael G. Jacob 19

Ill 6. Magic Background of a man, after 1851. Collection Michael G. Jacob Il 7.Illuminated daguerreotype of a young girl, after 1852. Collection Michael G. Jacob Ill 8, 8a, 8b. Officer by Kilburn, dated in ink March, 1853. Collection Michael G. Jacob HISTORICAL NOTES

National Treasure Discovered in a Shoebox The Royal Palace in the Oldest Photograph of Oslo? by Wlodek Witek,The National Library of Norway, Oslo

Ill 1. The daguerreotype in its original mounting, typical of the early 1840’s with the octagonal cut white mat and in a thin housing. The image is reversed, a consequence of the daguerreotype process. The National Library of Norway, id. FAU 120, not dated, signed in print “TESTMAN fecit” on the wide gold line of the lithographed mat. Mount size 10,3 x 12,7 cm. 21

UNKNOWN AND UNIQUE is mounted behind glass and was named after the king ive years ago this daguer- looks like a mirror image on a of Denmark and Norway, reotype was hidden in a polished silver surface. Christian IV, who decided to Fshoebox with a stack of build a new city in 1624 nearer postcards illustrating archi- The image has not appeared to the Akershus fortress. tectural motifs in Denmark. in publications regarding the The location offered better The box was part of a bequest history of photography in protection from the frequent and it was opened in Copenha- Norway. Other daguerreotypes town fires which afflicted gen by an heir who happened of city views exist, views of the population of the earlier, to be an expert on the history Bergen and Trondheim, for wooden settlement further of photography. Eventually, example, but they were taken south. The new streets were this unique photograph found more than 10 years later. laid out in a grid pattern and a permanent home at the Na- The Oslo daguerreotype is a a law limited the use of wood tional Library of Norway, not view from a spot in the city in newly erected buildings. far from the Royal Palace which was known at that time In 1924 the name of the city shown in the view. The plate as Christiania. Christiania was changed to Oslo. Today

Ill 2. Image digitally reversed shows that the light is coming from the left (fjord side) and highlights the palace’s southern aspect. The palace façade with its short columns and high roof were modified ca. 1846. Following major alterations, the palace had a flat roof and a covered balcony which was supported by taller columns. HISTORICAL NOTES this, the oldest part of central rapidly through Europe, some in the form of dark silver sul- Oslo, started in 1624 is called photographers in Norway phide (tarnish), which is often Kvadraturen. continued to make daguerre- present on daguerreotypes. otypes until as late as 1868. The daguerreotype quickly To prevent further damage, an became the world’s first wi- This image is one of the oldest extra layer of glass was placed dely-used photographic te- photographs known in Norway. on both the verso and recto chnique, but its introduction It is in relatively good condi- and a new seal was attached at into Norway was slow. There tion, its reasonably intact hou- the edges. It is presently kept are very few specimens which sing having provided adequate cool and safe in an archival date before 1845, somewhere protection, although air and box in one of the National made by travelling foreigners impurities have penetrated Library’s climate-controlled including Carl Ferdinand Stel- the paper-sealed housing. The rooms in underground storage zner. Its popularity peaked reverse is covered with a pie- where only a few employees around 1855, then dwindled ce of thin blue paper holding have access to it. towards the end of the deca- the metal plate. The sharp The view over the chimneys de when other processes, whi- edges of the plate have cut and roofs of the city focuses ch were cheaper and easier to through the paper, allowing on the considerable volume use, allowed photographers air to enter. Degeneration has of the Royal Palace. Like most to make multiple copies from begun to appear at the edges early daguerreotypes, this glass plates negatives. Althou- surrounding the image on its image is optically inverted, gh these alternatives spread shiny polished silver surface which initially made it difficult

Ill 3. Detail from Christiania with Nearest Surroundings, map by Carl B. Roosen dated 1843. Here we see that the Palace (centre) is clearly located outside Christiania. The University buildings are indicated, but only half of them were built at the time. The layout of Karl Johans gate and adjoining streets is marked. National Library of Norway, Map 483h 23

Ill 4. Reversed close up of the Palace HISTORICAL NOTES to pin-point the exact location 1839 or by 1843 at the latest. gabled roof and a facade with from which it was taken [Ill. His viewpoint was from a short pillars at ground level in 2]. A daguerreotype image is spot a stone’s throw from the middle. None of the major made by a lengthy process where he lived and conducted changes that would come in which produces one picture an extensive publishing 1846 appear to have been only. There is no negative, and activity with a rental library, started. no further identical copies can bookstore, publishing house, be made from it. book printing and lithographic An illustration of The Royal press [Ill. 5]. Winther’s interest Palace in a dated map [Ill. 6] in photography developed shows the building with a flat THE FIRST NORVEGIAN rapidly after January 1839, roof but unchanged facade. If DAGUERREOTYPE and he independently the picture is reliably dated CITYSCAPE developed three methods to 1844, it would support the The Palace is the most ob- make photographs on paper in theory that the rebuilding of vious element in the compo- just over three years. the roof was completed first, sition; the buildings in the fo- His “light images on paper,” as beginning in 1844 but that the reground are actually quite a he called his own inventions, facade remained unchanged at distance away from the royal were described in his book that time. The official dating residence, which stood outsi- Instructions “On How To of the completed rebuilding is de the city [Ill. 3]. The optical Make Light Images On Paper 1846, while the interior had resolution near the centre of In Three Different Manners been fully furnished by 1849. the image is very good. Magni- “which he printed in his fication enables us to count own establishment in 1845, all the Palace windows, also after several failed attempts THE FAST LENS BY J. M. on its foreshortened side wing to sell it by subscription in PETZVAL [Ill. 4]. Christiania, Stockholm and Exposure times in Copenhagen (1842, 1843) photography’s earliest years and later in Leipzig (1844). could be as long as several THE PALACE HAS Winther’s criticism of the minutes. This was far better BEEN PHOTOGRAPHED daguerreotype’s weaknesses suited to architectural or BY OTHERS and his interest in promoting other still motifs rather than The first Norwegian daguer- his paper-based photography portraits of living persons. reotypist and professio- may have been partly This initial period, however nal portrait photographer, responsible for the lukewarm was very brief and portraits Oluf Frederik Knudsen, who Norwegian approach to became the main subject of established his portrait studio Daguerre’s process. the camera made images for in 1842 in Christiania, made a the following two decades. “successful picture” there in Short exposure times the summer of 1840 and his DATING BY SUBJECT were achieved following image received a favourable MATTER several developments. One review in the influential paper The photograph has not been of them was a fast lens, Morgenbladet on December dated by the author so it is not which was championed by 23rd, 1840. Unfortunately, possible to pinpoint the date Josef Maximilian Petzval, this daguerreotype has not of the exposure. However, a mathematician from been located. based on existing information Slovakia who designed such The very first Norwegian about the history of the Royal a lens in Vienna in May 1840, photographer, Hans Thøger Palace and the history of the and cooperated with the Winther (1786-1851) had camera, it seems reasonable instrument-maker, Peter photographed on paper the to date the image close to Wilhelm Friedrich Voigtländer, streets and the magnificent 1843.The Palace building in producing a camera building possibly as early as in in the daguerreotype has a body [Ill. 8]. The result, a 25

Ill 5. Grünnings farm in Christiania. Winther’s Lithograph, after a Light Image by Winther. Lithograph based on a photographic image by Hans Thøger Winther published in 1843 in one of his own journals, Ny Hermoder. His viewpoint is located very close to where he lived and not far from where both Testman and O.F.Knudsen took their photographs. National Library of Norway Blds Ill 6. Detail from Map of Christiania with a Square Mile of Surroundings by Vibe and Irgens, dated 1844, based on measurements of Christofer Hansteen. National Library of Norway Map 190, ex. 2 HISTORICAL NOTES revolutionary Voigtländer all- Wilhelm Friedrich Voigtländer, invested in a stock of these metal daguerreotype camera to construct a camera housing. lithographed mats. The word [Ill. 9] used a circular plate. When this camera appeared photography was not at the It was an instant success and on the market in January 1841 time in general use, hence sold hundreds every year it caused a sensation as it the use of “fecit”, customary starting January 1841 (700 could be used for portraiture for graphic arts. Testman’s were sold in the first year of with the short exposure times name is not mentioned in production). offered by the new Petzval contemporary Norwegian lens. Being able to speculate publications, but it is found in about which camera may have a list of Danish photographers PICTURE ASSEMBLY: been used just by looking active in 1844. AN UNUSUAL PLATE FORM at the shape and size of the AND A CAMERA OF VIENNA picture is a rarity. Peter Otto Testman (recorded The assembly is simple though variants are Peder and Olavius elegant, consisting of a thin and surname variant Testmann) white mat behind a plate THE VOIGTLÄNDER was born in 12.01.11806 in of glass edged with a gilt- DAGUERREOTYPE CAMERA Eiker, Buskerud, Norway, but embossed paper border. The The camera consists of two he spent most of his life in mat’s octagonal window is conical sections screwed Denmark. His father, Johan surrounded with thick and together. The shorter cone Christopher Testman, was born thin golden lines, one of them contains a ground glass screen 8.11.1761 at Hauge farm, and bearing the photographer’s with an eyepiece at the end his mother, also Norwegian, signature [Ill. 10]. which was used for focusing. Sophie Amalie Omsted, was The thin paper covers the The cone would be replaced born there in 08.09.1787. plate edges and separates the with a flat, circular plate The family moved to delicate image from the glass holder measuring 98 mm in Copenhagen in 1807, the same and is typical of the 1840s. diameter with a sensitized year it was heavily shelled The verso tells an interesting daguerreotype plate for the by the British Navy which story, as the plate’s unusual exposure. To insert the plate, attacked and burned much of form of partial circle can be the camera had to be removed the city. seen through the thin backing from the rack and taken into Testman graduated from high material [Ill. 11]. The top a darkroom in order not to school in Copenhagen in 1826. and bottom are straight and let daylight spoil the plate. After a few years he returned parallel , while the sides are The lens cap functioned as to Norway, where he began evenly curved and follow the a shutter. The camera could studies at Det Kongelige shape of a circle where both be purchased complete with Frederiks Universitet in arcs have a common centre darkroom equipment and a Christiania (now Universitetet point. The diameter of the set of disk-shaped copper i Oslo), matriculating in 1827 circle is about 97 millimeters, plates coated with silver on and continuing with theology which would fit the famous one side. studies in 1828, while boarding “Voigtländer Ganzmetal” with merchant Johannes Polti. daguerreotype camera with its When his mother died on May groundbreaking f/3.6 portrait THE PHOTOGRAPHER 15, 1829, he was there by her Petzval lens of f/149 mm focal The signature lithographed side in Christiania. There is no length and 37 degree angle of on the mat “TESTMAN fecit” record of him completing a view. indicates the author of the degree in Norway. view. The placement of the The lens was constructed signature is lithographed to In January 1838 he was during the first half of 1840 suit vertical formats, typical married in Copenhagen to in Vienna by Josef Maximilian of portraits. One can possibly Henriette Marie Hohlenberg. It Petzval, who engaged the assume that the photographer is mentioned that he exhibited instrument-maker, Peter worked with portraits and had his daguerreotypes in 1844 27

Ill 8. Two Petzval lenses: to the right, No. 135 Voigtländer & Sohn, Vienna, designed by Petzval for the famous all-metal camera Preus Museum, Horten. Ill 9. Photographic conservator Ann Deckers, FoMu Fotomuseum Provincie Antwerpen showing a replica of the Voigtländer daguerreotype camera, nr. 84 and daguerreotypes, 97 mm in diameter, made with the original camera in the early 1840s. HISTORICAL NOTES

Ill 10. Close up of the signature on the mat of FAU 120. The fact that the photographer’s name appears on the short side and not under the image indicates that plate was probably from a stock of lithographed mats intended for portraits, i.e., the vertical format. Ill 11. The back of the Daguerreotype FAU 120 with handwritten title Royal Palace in Christiania (“Konge- slottet i Christiania”). Through the paper, it is possible to measure the disc height to about 82 mm and a circle diameter of about 97 mm. The disc’s unusual shape suggests that it could have been trimmed from a standard quarter-plate 108 mm X 82 mm and thus adapted to a circular plate holder for the 97 mm disks required by the Voigtländer daguerreotype camera. 29 at The Industrial Society in 1848 Andersen wrote a short as postmaster, a position he Copenhagen. At this time he poem about Testman where held until his retirement. One was a starch manufacturer. he praised his friend, saying: of his daughters, Caroline In spite of having a family, “In thee we feel Norway’s Sophie, became a well known Peter Otto chose to volunteer Heartbeat / In time of need activist for women’s rights. In in 1848 and took part in the they known their Friends”. his last years Testman lived as three-year Danish-German a widower with his other his war as a private in the Tredje His military service was daughter, Emilie Antoinette, Bataljong. Service led him rewarded with promotions until he died in January 1890. to Glorup where he met and to lieutenant, Knight of became friends with the Dannebrog, and later poet H. C. Andersen. In May captain. His career ended

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Den Constitutionelle, 4.02.1839 (Daguerre’s pictures fixed in Camera Obscura) 25.02.1842 (O.F.Knudsen on daguerreotye). • Digitalarkivet: Døpte Eiker prestegjeld 1801-1814 • Drammens Tidende, Anmeldte Reisende 03.09.1827, ?.05.1829 (P.O.Testman). • Ek, B., Smørgrav, B.: Litt Gårdshistorie: Feil og fakta om Kapteinsraaen • Ekeberg, J., Østgaard Lund, H.: 80 Millioner Bilder, Norsk Kulturhistorisk Fotografi 1855-2005, Press Forlag, Oslo 2008, p. 48-56. • Erlandsen, R.: Pass nu paa! Nu tar jeg fra hullet! Om fotografiens første hundre år i Norge 1839-1940, Inter-View, Oslo 2000. • Fellner, M., Holtzer A., Limbeck-Lilienau, E.: The Sharpened Eye. Joseph Petzval: Light the City and Pho- tography. Oct 23, 2003 – Febr. 22. 2004, Exhibition catalogue. Technisches Museum Wien, 2004. • Fortegnelse over de Studerende ved det kongel. Frederiks Universitet i Christiania i Vinter=Semestret 1828 med angivelse af dere hjemstaven og Boepæle. Chrisitania 1828, p. 26. • HC Andersen Centret (The Hans Christian Andersen Center): Letter from H.C. Andersen to Peter Olavius Testman • HC Andersen Information Odense • Høye, Nina E.: Det Kongelige Slott i Oslo, Cappelen Damm As, Oslo, 2008. p. 15. • Kempe, Fritz: Daguerreotypie in Deutschland: Von Charme der fruhen Fotografie, Seebruck am Chiem- see: Heering 1979. Technical drawing of the camera with measurements, Voigtländer Bildarchiv Nieder- sächs, Staatsarchiv Volfenbüttel, dated January 1841. • Morgenbladet 08.09.1839, 30.05.1842, 10.07.1842 (H.T.Winther Om lysbilleder and subscription), 23.12.1840, 30.01.1842 (O.F.Knudsen exhibition), 18.08.1843, 20.08.1843 (C.F.Stelzner advertisment). • Norsk Penning-Magazin, et Skrift til Oplysning, Underholdning og nyttige Kundskabers Udbredelse, Chri- stiania 1834–42. • Ny Hermoder. Et esthetisk Ugeskrift, Christiania 1841-43. • Ochsner, B.: Fotografer i Danmark indtil 1900. København 1956, p.331. • Tellefsen, J.C.: Fortegnelse over de akademiske Borgere ved Norges Universitet 1813-1880 Alfabetisk ordnet med tilføiet Alder, Dimission, Eksamenskarakter og nuværende Stilling samt et Anhang indehol- dende Oversigt over Universitetets Lærere i samme Tidsrom. Osk. Knobelauchs Forlag, Christiania 1881, p. 92. • Statens Arkiver, Dansk Demografisk Database: Folketellinger (Census) 1801, 1845, 1885 København • Strøm, Rolf: Hans Thøger Winther: Norges første fotograf og grunnleggeren av den norske illustrerte presse in Volund, Norsk Teknisk Museum, Oslo, 1958, p.131-150. • Testmann, Tommy: Slægten Testmann 1600-2007, 2007 unpublished text, p. 120-131. LOOKING AT REALITY Daguerreian Pictures. From Silver To Paper by Maria Francesca Bonetti, Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Rome 31

Ill. 1, Frédéric Martens (engraver) Vue prise de la Piazetta à Venise, 1840-1841. Aquatint and etching after daguerreotype. From the series Excursions daguerriennes, Paris, N.M.P. Lerebours–Rittner et Goupil–Hr. Bossange, 1840-1843, 2 vv. [1842-1844], I vol. (1842). Private collection LOOKING AT REALITY fter François Arago made tance and interest”1.Exactly the daguerreotype, the Italian the first announcement one year later, on June 15th scientist insisted on the im- Aof Daguerre’s invention 1840, Alfred Donné (1801- portance of the “typographi- to the Academy of Sciences 1878) presented his procedure cal method of Dr. Donné”, of Paris (January 7, 1839), to the Academy of Sciences2. who had – with his early expe- and the subsequent enthu- He was thus certainly the first riments aimed at improving siastic reactions reported by to take up the challenge of the new process – soon succe- the newspapers of the time, transforming daguerreotype eded in “not only stably fixing even before anyone knew plates directly into engraved the highly mobile impressions the actual details of the pro- plates, so as to produce mul- of the daguerreotype upon cess, on June 15th 1839 the tiple printed copies, thereby metal, but in etching them by French Minister Charles-Ma- overcoming their uniqueness means of various substances rie Duchâtel presented a bill and exclusivity. Donné propo- that are likely to corrode the to the Chamber of Deputies, sed the etching of a daguerre- metal plate [...] Thus we can proposing that the French otype plate by means of nitric now produce upon metal, due government should purchase acid, a method that he had only to the action of light and the patent of the invention in evidently already experimen- some chemical reagents, [...] exchange for a lifetime annu- ted with in the course of 1839. some grooves that are more ity for its inventors. In his re- A reliable contemporary sour- or less wide and deep, com- port he referred to the various ce that testifies to the early pletely analogous to the pro- benefits that he believed the development of this process is cess of ordinary engraving, daguerreotype would bring the report by Macedonio Mel- and afterwards to produce to the sciences and the arts, loni (1798-1854), to the Aca- several copies upon paper”.3 and with clarity and foresi- demy of Sciences of Naples on ght he announced that “Being November 12, 1839. This was Donné’s process was later per- called upon to multiply these the first scientific report on fected and patented (by Hip- images modelled upon nature the daguerreotype to be pre- polyte Fizeau in 1843), as was herself, by reproducing them, sented in Italy. Even before he the method described in 1841 the art of the engraver will specifically described the phy- by Charles-Louis Chevalier4 take on a new level of impor- sical-chemical properties of and those of other less for-

1 “L’art du graveur, appelé à multiplier, en les reproduisant, ces images calquées sur la nature elle-même, prendra un nouveau degré d’importance et d’intérêt”. See: Chambre des Députés. Deuxième Session 1839. Exposé des motifs et projet de loi présentés par M. le Ministre de l’intérieur. Séance du 15 Juin 1839, in Historique et description des procédés du Daguerréotype et du Diorama, rédigés par Daguerre, ornés du portrait de l’auteur, et augmentés de notes et d’observations par MM. Lerebours et Susse Frères, Paris, Lerebours, opticien de l’Observatoire-Susse Frères, éditeurs, 1839, pp. 1-7 (p. 2). 2 A. Donné, Procédé de gravure des images photogénique sur plaque d’argent, in “Bulletin de la Société d’encouregement pour l’industrie nationale”, Paris, Trente-neuvième année (N. CCCCXXXIII), juillet 1840, pp. 270-271. 3 “Metodo tipografico del dottor Donné […] non solo a fermare stabilmente sul metallo le impressioni mo- bilissime del dagherrotipo, ma ad incidervele mediante alcune sostanze che probabilmente corrodono la lamina metallica […] Laonde ora si possono produrre su metallo e per la sola azione della luce e di alcuni chimici reagenti […] degli scavi più o meno larghi e profondi totalmente analoghi ai lavori dell’incisione ordinaria, e trarne poscia parecchi esemplari su carta” See: Relazione intorno al dagherrotipo letta alla R. Accademia delle Scienze di Napoli nella tornata del 12 novembre 1839 da Macedonio Melloni uno dei Quaranta della Società Italiana delle Scienze, Napoli, dalla Tipografia di Porcelli, 1839 (also published in the “Giornale Arcadico”, Roma, Tipografia delle Belle Arti, 1840, tomo LXXXII, from which the quotation is taken, p. 6). 4 The optician Charles-Louis Chevalier (1804-1859) devised a procedure for obtaining copies of daguerreotypes on copper plates by means of the electrotype system, without destroying the originals, which he described in Nouvelles Instructions sur l’usage du daguerréotype. Description… d’un appareil très simple destiné à la reproduction des épreuves au moyen de la galvanoplastie…, Paris, chez l’Auteur, 1841 and then in Mélanges photographiques. Complément des nouvelles instructions sur l’usage du daguerréotype, Paris, chez l’Auteur, 1844, pp. 74-81. For his work as a daguerreotypist and experimenter see Paris et le daguerréotype, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Paris-Musées, 1989, pp. 227-228, cat. 79-85. 33

Ill. 2, Joseph Berres Wien. View from the Observatory of the Old University to St.Stephens Cathedral, 1840. Print from etched daguerreotype, by permission of Albertina, Höhere Graphische Bundes – Lehr – und Versuchsanstalt Wien. See on Daguerreobase LOOKING AT REALITY tunate experimenters. They were many persistent attemp- instable image formed on the either tried to directly etch ts by his contemporaries, par- silver-coated copper plate the daguerreotype plates or ticularly in the field of printing more permanent, but without to produce a copy, also by the and publishing, to ensure the obtaining satisfactory results: use of electrotype, of the da- widest possible enjoyment of “I therefore commenced a se- guerreotype. These processes these wonderful, and hitherto ries of experiments with the did not however prove to have unsurpassed, images of reali- aid of acids, and I obtained effective and practical appli- ty. The intention was to make various results; […] but the cations for the reproduction them available to an ever wi- results were defective, and and printed diffusion of da- der and more varied audien- always for the reason before guerreotype images. ce, which in previous decades mentioned – namely, the im- had grown accustomed to an possibility of biting with acid, Nevertheless, the immediate easier accessibility to a large without the intervention of and widespread interest of number of images particularly the engraver’s art: besides, I different experimenters [Ill. thanks to the diffusion of li- knew that silver is too soft to 2], not only in France5, cle- thography that, from the early give even a small number of arly shows that printing co- nineteenth century onwards, impressions”6. Daguerre’s ap- pies of the daguerreotype had had produced greater num- parent renunciation, at least been one of the foremost en- bers of prints at a lower cost. officially, of the possibility to deavours associated with the replicate the daguerreotype, process ever since it was first In October 1839 the British is closely related to its “pho- invented, due to the desire to magazine “The Athenaeum” togenic” nature (as an image overcome the limitations of published an article dedicated automatically generated by the unique and non-reprodu- to various experiments regar- the action of light), which he cible image that it produced. ding the direct reproduction thought made it incompatible The inventor of the process of daguerreotypes. After with its ability to be direct- particularly appreciated its mentioning the rather poor ly reproduced. This, as poin- qualities of precision, objecti- results obtained by Donné’s ted out by Stephen C. Pinson vity and absolute fidelity to procedure, as well as the “he- (in his essay “Photography’s the “real”, as guaranteed by liographic” process (“héliog- Non-reproducibility, or, the the absence of any kind of raphie”) of Nicéphore Niépce, Rhetoric of touch”), “was not manual intervention or the a letter from Daguerre to the simply a matter of overcoming mediation of an artist, and Academy of Sciences of Paris the physical and chemical he therefore did not think it is cited. The illustrious inven- properties of the metal plate, was in any way possible to de- tor of the Daguerreotype sta- but of doing so without signi- rive faithful copies from the tes that he himself conducted ficant manual intervention by daguerreotype.Nevertheless, a number of experiments, traditional artistic means”7. despite these claims, there with the aim of making the

5 The various other experimenters with methods for engraving daguerreotype plates include: Joseph Berres (1796-1844), a professor of anatomy in Wien who presented his “photogenic etching” chemical process (which he called “Phototip”) in 1840; Sir W.R. Grove (1811-1896) who presented his voltaic process for etching daguerreotype plates to the Electrical Society of London on August 17, 1841; Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (1819-1868), who collaborated with both Fizeau and Donné (see Paris et le daguerréotype, op. cit., p. 236, cat. 105; Quentin Bajac, Dominique Planchon-de Font-Réaulx (ed.), Le daguerréotype français. Un objet photographique, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2003, p. 126, cat. 220 and pp. 364-366, cat. 312-315); the Roman engraver Giuseppe Bianchi (see Piero Becchetti, Carlo Pie- trangeli, Roma in dagherrotipia, Roma, Quasar, 1979, p. 34). For information about these different methods, see also Anthony J. Hamber, “A Higher Branch of the Art”. Photographing the Fine Arts in England, 1839- 1880, Amsterdam, Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1996, pp. 52-61. A description of the various processes for engraving daguerreotype plates as well as making galvanic copies by the electrotype can also be found in [Edmond de Valicourt de Séranvillers], Nouveau Manuel Complet de Photographie sur métal, sur papier et sur verre…, Nouvelle édition… Tome premier. Photographie sur plaques métalliques [Paris, Manuel-Roret, 1862, 2 vols.], reprint, Paris, L.V.D.V., Inter-livres, undated, vol. I, pp. 184-199. 35 Indeed, the new publishing ned aquatint procedures8. to the romantic spirit, was gi- initiatives that commenced at The popularity of similar ven a strong prominence that the end of 1839 and the early practices is evinced by the makes their derivation from months of 1840, attempting to Avis (a preliminary note) whi- daguerreotypes seem rather capitalise on the ability of the ch appears as the preface of look suspect and doubtful. daguerreotype to reproduce an early edition of Daguerre’s Instead, for the analogous reality in an extraordinarily manual. Here the publisher but far more famous series faithful way and to successful- (Alphonse Giroux) advertises Excursions daguerriennes, the ly exploit the already flouri- and recommends the use of Parisian publisher Noël-Marie shing market of “topographi- instruments and products cer- Paymal Lerebours (1807-1873) cal” and “picturesque” views, tified and guaranteed by the chose the aquatint, “that still had to resort to the usual inventor, due to their effecti- most closely resembles natu- manual means of graphical ve action. Among other thin- re”, with the use of steel as “translation”. For the crea- gs it is announced that in the a support, “because it allows tion of engravings or etchin- shops of M. Giroux “You can one to combine delicacy with gs the traditional methods also acquire a varnish prepa- solidity”11. of transferring a preparatory red to safeguard the images drawing were therefore ap- and facilitate their tracing”9. Noël-Marie Paymal Lerebours plied, which in this case was began to publish this series the daguerreotype image (at The series of prints Paris et of prints in 1840, issued in that time considered to be an ses environs reproduits par folders containing four plates authentic “analogon” or exact le daguerréotype, edited by each. The entire series then counterpart of visual reality), Charles Philippon (1840)10, appeared in an extra fine edi- and etching techniques were consisted entirely of litho- tion bound in two volumes, employed that were particu- graphs in which the work of the first of which, with sixty larly effective for these kinds the artist was emphasized and prints, was published in 1842, of images, such as lithography the picturesque character of while the second, consisting of and the most skilled and refi- the views, particularly dear fifty-one prints, was planned

6 Attempts at Engraving the Daguerreotype Pictures, in “The Athenaeum. Journal of Literature, Science and the Fine Arts”, October 1839, pp. 780-781 (quoted by Stephen C. Pinson, Photography’s Non-reproducibility, or, the Rhetoric of Touch, in Kathleen Stewart Howe (ed.), Intersections. Lithography, Photography and the Traditions of Printmaking, Tamarind Papers v. 17, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1998, pp. 3-13 (p. 6). The extensive tests and experiments of Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833), should be considered, which led to the discovery that he called héliographie. It concentrated particularly on the mechanical reproduction of engravings through the use of photosensitive substances. Daguerre instead attempted to permanently fix images that were spontaneously formed by the action of light in the dark room, and in his letters and writings he often pointed out the conceptual as well as technical differences of his procedure from that of his predecessor, differences that were also emphasized by Arago: see Chambre des Députés. Deuxième Session 1839. Rapport fait au nom de la Commission….par M. Arago. Séance du 3 Juillet 1839, in Historique et description…, op. cit., pp. 9-29 (p. 13-17). 7 Stephen C. Pinson, Photography’s…, op. cit., p. 6. 8 For a more in-depth critical analysis of issues related to the spread of the series of prints “after the daguerreotype”, as well as Stephen C. Pinson, Photography’s Non-reproducibility, op. cit., I refer the reader to a previous paper of mine, which deals with many of the considerations and information discussed in the present article: M. F. Bonetti, ’D’après le Daguerréotype’… L’immagine dell’Italia tra incisione e fotografia, in M. F. Bonetti, Monica Maffioli (ed.),L’Italia d’argento. 1839-1859 Storia del dagherrotipo in Italia, exhibition catalogue, Firenze, Fratelli Alinari, 2003, pp. 31-40. 9 “On pourra se procurer aussi un vernis préparé pour garantir les dessins et en faciliter le décalque”. See: Historique et description des procédés du Daguerréotype et du diorama, par Daguerre, …, Nouvelle Edition, corrigée, et augmentée du portrait de l’Auteur, Paris, Alphonse Giroux et C.ie, éditeurs, 1839 (Avis). 10 Paris et ses environs reproduits par le daguerréotype, sous la direction de Charles Philippon, Paris, Au- bert et Cie, 1840 (60 lithographic plates). On this volume, as well as the Album du daguerréotype reproduit (1840), and various other series of engravings “after the daguerreotype”, see Paris et le daguerréotype, op. cit., pp. 190-191, 259-261, and bibliographic ref. p. 265. See also Bajac, Planchon-de Font-Réaulx (ed.), Le daguerréotype…, op. cit., pp. 230-231, 234, cat. 139-140. LOOKING AT REALITY

Ill. 3 Louis-Armand-Hippolyte Fizeau Paris rooftops, 1843 circa. Experimental etched daguerreotype plate. Private collection 37 to be completed before Octo- evidently refers to the various plates “which is very superior ber 30th 1843, as announced techniques of engraving as to any hitherto known. We in an advertisement published well as etching, since in fact have seen some of the proofs by Lerebours in the pages ad- the prints were obtained with struck off, without any parti- ded to the fourth edition of the graphic procedures of the cular care, by a workman of his Traité de Photographie aquatint and, in some cases, ordinary ability, and we can (June 1843). This advertise- lithography. affirm that the most of these ment gives us a great deal of engravings, when seen throu- important information con- In his Traité, Lerebours tho- gh a magnifying-glass, showed cerning the overall publishing roughly discusses the various the exact representation of programme, Lerebours’ inten- procedures tested hitherto in the Daguerreian image, with tions, the various authors who order to obtain the engraving its most minute details. Mo- wrote the accompanying tex- of daguerreotypes or their reover, in the proofs which ts, the various pictures alre- copying by means of electro- have been submitted to our ady published or planned for plating . He explains and di- examination, the dark parts publication in the second se- scusses Donné’s method, as of the picture were reprodu- ries, as well as several other well as the similar process of ced with a great degree of vi- lesser collections available Joseph Berres (in chapter XXII, gour, and, what is very remar- for buyers and their relative “De la gravure”)14, that of W. kable, the white parts of the prices12. In this note, that R. Grove (in chapter XXIII, “De paper were perfectly pure. boasts of the great populari- la gravure des images photo- When one reflects on the fu- ty soon attained by the album graphiques, par M.W. R. Gro- ture results of this discovery, Excursions daguerriennes, Le- ve”)15, and Hippolyte Fizeau’s one cannot be surprised that rebours confirms that “In this procedure of reproduction of Mr. Fizeau should have wished second attempt, as well as in the plates through electro- to keep it secret. For our own the first, we shall have the plating (in chapter XXI, “De part, it would be of immen- co-operation of eminent arti- la reproduction des épreuves se utility to us for the pu- sts, and of writers of establi- par la galvanoplastie”)16, whi- blication of the Daguerreian shed fame, worthy to do justi- ch he regarded as still unsur- Excursions; for, with its aid, ce, by the graver or the pen, passed, “for the large plates we might immediately repro- to the same masterpieces that he produced were admi- duce, at very small expense, that Daguerre’s instrument so rable”. In a note commenting the remarkable views which faithfully copies, by means of on the method of Donné, Le- our correspondents are con- the sun, the light and the sha- rebours describes Fizeau’s re- tinually sending us; and, in de”13. Here the term “graver” cently developed procedure order to avoid any greater or [burin in the original French] for engraving daguerreotype lesser alteration in the press,

11«…qui ressemble le plus à la nature […] parce qu’il permet d’unire la finesse à la solidité». See: [N.M.P. Lerebours], Avis de l’éditeur, in Excursions daguerriennes, représentant les vues et les nombreux monuments anciens et modernes les plus remarquables du Globe…, Paris, N.P. Lerebours, Place du Pont-Neuf 13– Rittner et Goupil, Boulevard Montmartre 15–Hr Bossange, Quai Voltaire 11, 1840-1843 (111 plates, then also published in two volumes: the first in 1842, the second between 1843 and 1844). The quotation is taken from the volume of the first series (1842), also quoted in André Rouillé,La Photographie en France. Textes et Controverses: une Anthologie 1816-1871, Paris, Macula, 1989, pp. 60-61. 12 Nouvelles Excursions Daguerriennes, in Traité de Photographie, derniers perfectionnements apportés au Daguerréotype (quatrième édition), par N.-P. Lerebours, opticien de l’Observatoire et de la Marine. Juin 1843, Paris, N.-P. Lerebours – Fortin, Masson et C.ie – à Londres, Claudet, 1843, pp. 11-16 (The note by Lere- bours is also republished in Paris et le daguerréotype, op. cit., p. 13). 13 Ivi, p. 13. The quotation is taken from the English edition: New Daguerreian Excursions, in A Treatise on Photography, containing the latest discoveries and improvements appertaining to the Daguerrotype, by N. P. Lerebours…, translated by J. Egerton, London, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1843, pp. 209-216 (p. 212). 14 Chapter XXI, “On Engraving”, in A Treatise…, op. cit., pp. 124-126. 15 Chapter XXII, “On a Voltaic Process for etching daguerreotype plates. By W. R. Grove…”, Ivi, pp. 127-137. 16 Chapter XX, “On the Reproduction of the proofs by the Electrotype”, Ivi, pp. 117-124. LOOKING AT REALITY we should immediately re- with the method of Fizeau, directly taken of the building produce several plates by the in the days immediately fol- but of the drawing that the electrotype”17. lowing its official presenta- architect had exhibited at the tion [Ill. 4]. In the second vo- Louvre, “engraved after the The method of Fizeau , who lume of the series Excursions admirable Fizeau process”20. since 1841 had resumed and daguerriennes (published In addition to these plates, developed Donné’s experi- between 1843 and 1844), to- explicitly carried out by the Fi- ments, was based on a combi- gether with the addition of zeau method of etching, there nation of a chemical treatment six lithographs at the request are currently a few other rare (an etching of the original da- of several subscribers to give examples of experiments con- guerreotype plate by acid), a greater variety to the col- ducted by directly engraving with an electrolytic process lection, he included the abo- daguerreotype plates, and in (strengthening the etching by ve-mentioned print (Plate 24, some cases the plates them- means of a layer of copper accompanied by an explana- selves survive, even though obtained by electrotype) [Ill. tory text by Challamel, Un des the paper proofs that were 3]. However, this method was Bas-reliefs de Notre-Dame de taken from them do not21. still unable to satisfy Lere- Paris. Epreuve de daguer- bours’ exacting requirements réotype transformée en plan- It is moreover hard to precisely for printing and in fact the lat- che gravée – Procédé Fizeau, identify the surviving daguer- ter used this method for only which also contained a short reotypes which were copied three prints of his oeuvre. technical description of the or traced by the etchers and The images obtained by the procedure) in addition to two engravers in order to transfer method of Fizeau18, althou- others that were realized in the image to the plates used gh precise, did not retain the the same way, by etching the for the prints that are known same fine details of the- ori daguerreotypes directly by to us today. In some cases it is ginal daguerreotype plates, chemical means, without any possible to guess, due to the and they were rather complex manual retouching (Plate 19, close similarity of the daguer- and impracticable to crea- Hotel-de-Ville de Paris and reotype with the relative print te19. However, Lerebours em- Maison élevée rue St George , as in the case of the daguer- phasized the potential of this par M. Renaud, a plate that reotype probably commissio- process, and brought it to the was added in only a few special ned by Lerebours Saint Pierre attention of the subscribers editions of the second series, et Chateau St.Ange. Vue prise to his series of prints. In fact between plates 33 and 34, but du port Ripetta à Rome, now for them he realized a special not included in the index of in the Robinson University Li- issue of a print impressed di- the volume and realized, as brary of Newcastle. This pla- rectly from a daguerreotype Henry Berthoud explains in te is very similar to the print of one of the bas-reliefs of the accompanying text, from depicting the same subject, Notre-Dame de Paris, etched a daguerreotype that was not published by Lerebours in

17 Ivi, op. cit., pp. 124-125 (Traité…, op. cit., p. 132). 18 Louis Armand Hippolyte Fizeau (1819-1896) did not patent his process until September 12th 1843, and he presented it at the Academy of Sciences on the 8th of July 1844. See H. Fizeau, Procédé de gravure photographique, in “Bulletin de la Société d’encouragement pour l’industrie nationale”, Paris, Quarante-troisième année (N. CCCCLXXXIV), octobre 1844, p. 452. 19 Alfred Donné himself had already judged this method somewhat unreliable: see Alfred Donné, Cours de microscopie complémentaire des études médicales… Atlas exécuté d’après nature au microscope-daguer- réotype, Paris, Baillière, 1845 (86 etchings by Oudet after daguerreotypes by Jean-Bernard-Léon Foucault), Introduction, pp. 5-14 (partly republished in Rouillé, La Photographie…, op. cit., pp. 73-76). 20 “... gravé d’après l’admirable procédé Fizeau”. See the second volume of Excursions daguerriennes (ed. Paris, Lerebours, Rittner et Goupil, H. Bossange, 1840-1842 [1844]) kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Departement des Estampes et de la Photographie, VH-40 PET FOL) which contains 52 prints ( instead of the 51 listed in the index of the volume) and an Avis aux Souscripteurs. (Épreuves de daguerréotype tran- sformées en planches gravées. – Procédé de M. Fizeau). Read on line 39

Ill. 4 Photographer unknown (Louis-Armand-Hippolyte Fizeau ?). Un des Bas-reliefs de Notre-Dame de Paris. Épreuve de daguerréotype transformée en planche gravée – Procédé Fizeau, 1844. From the series Excursions daguerriennes, Paris, N.M.P. Lerebours–Rittner et Goupil–Hr. Bossange, 1840-1844, 2 vv. [1842- 1844], II vol. (1844). Print from etched daguerreotype. National Technical Museum, inv. 24214 LOOKING AT REALITY the first series (1842) of the tranferring the image depi- who was also a chemist and a Excursions daguerriennes, cted on the plate, by means daguerreotypist, from whose and its surface also appears of a press, to a sheet of black collection the plate then arri- to be particularly damaged, paper covered with a coating ved at the Robinson Universi- perhaps because it was used of gelatine in a moist state. It ty Library of Newcastle upon as a template for copying it to is left in the press for about Tyne23 [Ill. 7-8]. create the etched plate [lll. half an hour, and, at the expi- 5-6]. ration of that time, dried in Like Lerebours the Milanese the sun; the paper then sepa- publisher Ferdinand Artaria, We must however bear in mind rates from the plate, and tra- who since the spring of 1840 the close similarity of scenes cings of the Daguerreian ima- had began to publish, on sepa- that were photographed from ge, more or less complete, rate sheets, the series of prin- the same point of view, but will be seen on its surface”22. ts Vues d’Italie d’après le da- above all it must be conside- guerréotype – at first featuring red that copying a daguerre- More usually views “d’après le only the city and the territory otype to create an etching or daguerréotype” were produ- of Milan and then extended to an engraving, typically led to ced by manual transpositions, the most popular sites and lo- its loss, due to its manipula- in which the interventions of calities of the Italian Peninsu- tion in the tracing or transfer artists (the draftsmen or en- la – opted for the technique of of the image, which tended to gravers), are still very evi- aquatint, entrusting the tran- destroy the delicate daguer- dent, and in some cases they slation of the daguerreotype reotype image on the silver produced a “corrected” ima- plates onto copper to some plate. ge of the scenes, sometimes of the most skilled etchers with a certain deformation of vedute who were active Lerebours himself, again in of the perspective of the spa- in Milan at the time (such as: his Traité de photographie ce, thereby providing a more Louis Cherbuin, Johann Jakob [A Treatise...], in the short simplified and emblematic in- Falkeisen and Francesco Cit- chapter entitled “On the tran- terpretation of the topoi se- terio). The aquatint is in fact sfer of the proofs”, describes lected. An example of this is characterized by tonal effects one of the methods for tran- the view of the Port Ripetta and gradations, not by means sferring images directly from à Rome, of which, in addi- of incised lines, but by areas the daguerreotype plate: “A tion to the print included in covered with very fine dots, great many researches have the Excursions daguerriennes obtained by graining with been made on the possibility (dated as early as 1840), also powdered rosin, and thus it of transferring Daguerreian a daguerreotype is known to was more effective than other images upon the lithographic exist, probably commissioned graphic techniques at sugge- stone. Up to the present time by Lerebours himself, as were sting the subtle effects of light [1843], these inquiries have many of those used for his se- and shade and the continuous been fruitless, and the only ries of prints. It was then sold gradations and textures of the results which have attended in London, by Claudet & Hou- photographic image, succes- them, consist in a method of ghton to Hugh Lee Pattinson, sfully conveying the delica-

21 See, in particular, the proofs taken from etched daguerreotypes, by an unidentified hand, kept at the Mu- sée Carnavalet in Paris (some of which represent the church of Saint-Sulpice) and those of Hippolyte Fizeau in a private collection, in addition to the proof that accompanied the latter’s patent application, filed in June 1843 (now in the Institut national de la propriété industrielle, Paris). Also some etched plates by Fizeau still exist, depicting views of the rooftops of Paris (at the Musée d’Orsay and the collection of Serge Kakou, in Paris) and the Dôme des Invalides (Santa Monica, J. Paul Getty Museum). See Paris et le daguerréotype, op. cit., p. 235, cat. 103, and pp. 262-263; Bajac, Planchon-de Font-Réaulx, Le daguerréotype…, op. cit., p. 219, cat. 124-125 and pp. 234-236, cat. 141-142. 22 [N.M.P.Lerebours], A Treatise…, op. cit., p. 154 (Traité…, op. cit., p. 160: Chapitre XXV, “Du transport des épreuves”). 23 See Bajac, Planchon-de Font-Réaulx, Le daguerréotype…, op. cit., p. 357, cat. 302-303. The above-mentioned view of St. Peter’s and Castel Sant’Angelo has the same provenance. 41

Ill. 5 Photographer unknown [Daguerréotype Lerebours à Paris]. Saint Pierre et Château St. Ange à Rome. Vue prise du port Ripetta à Rome, 1839-1840. Daguerreotype, full plate. Newcastle University, Robinson Library Special. Collections (by permission of the Librarian, Robinson Library, Newcastle University)

Ill.6 Weber (engraver). Saint-Pierre et le Fort Saint-Ange à Rome, 1840-1841. Aquatint and etching after daguerreotype. from the series Excursions daguerriennes, Paris, N.M. P. Lerebours-Rittner et Goupil - Hr. Bossange, 1840-1843, 2 vols. [1842-1844], I vol. [1842]. Private collection LOOKING AT REALITY

Ill. 7 Photographer unknown [Daguerréotype Lerebours à Paris] Port Ripetta à Rome, 1839-1840. Daguerreotype, full plate. Newcastle University, Robinson Library Special Collections. (by permission of the Librarian, Robinson Library, Newcastle University)

Ill.8 Sigismond Himely (engraver). Port Ripetta à Rome, 1840. Aquatint and etching after daguerreotype from the series Excursions daguerriennes, Paris, N.M.P. Lerebours–Rittner et Goupil–Hr. Bossange, 1840- 1843, 2 vv. [1842-1844], I vol. (1842) Private collection 43 te nuances of shading in the ticular drawing skills of the who considered the represen- sky and subtle tints that were engravers chosen by Artaria, tation of popular customs and particularly appreciated those especially in being able to vivacious daily activities in with aesthetic tastes inclining gracefully include groups of the places depicted, as one of towards the Romantic. the most evocative elements figures to animate the views, of such scenes. The engravers worked “after according to the hitherto pre- Alongside this, however, the transferring the image to ste- vailing traditions and stere- intention to objectively docu- el, by means of tracing with otypes of painting and graphic ment the monuments, land- the drypoint, thanks to which art, some of their finished scapes, and urban contex- the outline of the work was watercolour drawings still ts was now more manifestly indicated”, then “the special survive, which were certainly apparent, and there someti- task of the artist, in the exe- used as preparatory sketches for some views of the series, mes seems to be an attempt cution, is to complete with and they correspond exactly to confer a greater degree colour the character of the (also in their dimensions) to of simplicity and essentiality sites, monuments or objects various prints, for which they upon the images, especially in represented”; and also “The certainly constituted the mo- those cases in which they re- engraved views will be enlive- del26. present contemporary archi- ned by figures. When the pi- Direct descendants of the ei- tectural features and monu- ctures taken on the site have ghteenth and nineteenth cen- ments, which could not have none, they will be provided tury Voyages pittoresques, appeared in the older prints, with some groups depicted by which contributed towards and which could now be more sketches from the life made forming and establishing the effectively documented by a in the same localities”24. stereotypes for landscapes new and more modern means Similarly, in the contract he and the emblematic topoi of of visual communication. drew up with Artaria, the en- cityscapes, in the series of graver Louis Cherbuin under- prints “after the daguerre- takes “to trace the outlines of otype” the introduction of the objects represented, from figures in the foregrounds, as the above-mentioned plates, well as for decorative purpo- transpose them to copper and ses, was seen as essential for there execute the similar sha- the artists in order to satisfy dows with the addition of the the demand for the “picture- sky and the small figures -re sque” that was still persistent quired according to the pre- and widespread in the buying sent agreement”25. public, which at the time lar- As a testimony to the par- gely consisted of travellers

24 “...après avoir obtenue le report sur acier d’un calque à la pointe sèche, par lequel la marche du travail se précise [...] la part spéciale de l’artiste, dans l’exécution, est de compléter par la couleur l’expression des sites, des monuments ou des objets représentés […] les vues gravées seront animées par des figures. Lorsque les épreuves faites sur les lieux n’en auront pas, on y suppléera par quelques groupes pris dans des croquis tracés d’après nature dans les mêmes localité”. See [N.M.P.Lerebours], Avis de l’éditeur, in Excur- sions…, op. cit., first series, 1842. 25“… dilucidare i contorni degli oggetti rappresentati, dalle lastre suddette, trasportarli su rame ed ivi ese- guire le ombre analoghe con l’aggiunta del cielo e delle macchiette occorrenti concertati seco loro”. This contract, dated January 28, 1842, is published in Clelia Alberici, Luigi Cherbuin e un suo album di incisioni e litografie in parte inedite, in “Raccolta delle Stampe Achille Bertarelli – Raccolte di Arte Applicata – Museo degli Strumenti Musicali. Rassegna di Studi e Notizie”, vol. VII, a. VI, 1979, pp. 9-42 (p. 14). 26 At the Civica Raccolta di Stampe Achille Bertarelli (Milan) there are eight drawings, signed by L. Cherbuin and J.J. Falkeisen, dating to around 1842-1843, and measuring 162 x 214 mm circa (corresponding to the daguerrotype full plate), representing the following scenes: Veduta del Lago di Como (inv. P.V. 52-61); Villa Sommariva al Lago di Como (inv. P.V. 52-60); Ponte sul Bisagno a Genova (inv. P.V. 52-66); Villa Reale a Monza (inv. P.V. 52-62); Il Pantheon a Roma (inv. P.V. 52-64); Arco di Trionfo fuori Porta San Gallo a Firenze (inv. P.V. 52-67); Il Manicomio a Genova (inv. P.V. 52-65); Teatro Carlo Felice a Genova (inv. P.V.52-63). Cfr. M.F. Bonet- ti, D’après le Daguerréotype…, op. cit., p. 39, note 26 and figs. pp. 35, 36, 45 (i), 46 (q), 47 (u,v). THE DAGUERREOTYPE STUDIO Baron Séguier’s Daguerreotype Equipment and Daguerreotype by Nicholas Burnett, Museum Conservation Service, Ltd, Cambridge 45

Ill 1. The camera and equipmen, Collection Nicholas Burnett THE DAGUERREOTYPE STUDIO

aron Armand Pierre to engrave the finely detailed this operation. (There would Séguier was 36 when plate; the text, at less than 600 have been little room left for BArago announced words, would not have taken the photographer inside the Daguerre’s stunning invention long to write. A translation of ‘darkroom’.) to the French Académie des the text [pg.48] explains the Figure 1 shows the bottom of Sciences on the 7th of January diagrams on the plate. The the box hinged around and up 1839. plate1 shows the world’s first to the left to allow the mercury Nine months later on the 9th use of a camera tripod2 as reservoir to be heated. Figure of October 1839 Séguier made well as the first photographic 2 reveals that the bottom of his own announcement to the use of a ball and socket joint. the case has a hinge on the left officers of the Société d’En- The doubling up of the tripod side and a catch on the right. couragement pour l’Industrie as a makeshift darkroom is Neither figure shows a window Nationale regarding his in- ingenious and is the key to to allow the development to novative portable daguerre- being able to process plates in be monitored. It would not otype camera and processing the field. have been easy to open the kit [Ill 1]. Although the text states box, reach down, retrieve the plate, examine the state of The plate shows1 a bellows that Séguier presented a development and replace it for camera which looks more like photographic apparatus to further development within something from the 1850s the meeting, the design in the confines of the tiny tent. than 1839. It is in fact the the plate appears to be a However, the similarity in size world’s first bellows camera. work in progress. The stand and shape of the mercury box At a time when other camera and outline mercury box in in Figure 9 to the iodine fuming bodies were little more than Figure 9 are very different box in Figure 11 suggests that bulky wooden boxes, Séguier from the same equipment during the engraving process had designed a relatively shown in Figure 1. In Figure Séguier changed his design, lightweight camera that could 1 the mercury box forms the incorporating a removable be folded for transportation. bottom of the carrying case, mercury box which fitted He had combined this with while Figure 9 shows it as a outside the iodine fuming all the equipment required smaller, self-contained box, box. This would have solved to process daguerreotypes in in outline. The arrangement the problem of opening the the field, introducing several in Figure 1 is impractical: box when working under the important innovations while the carrying box would have tripod and allowed some doing so. been top heavy on the metal stand and easy to knock over space for the photographer. The bellows are held The plate was published five unless braced against the extended by iron rods, f. The months later in the March tripod legs. However, this rods appear to be fixed to the 1840 Issue (number 429) of very bracing would have made central part of the camera the Bulletin of the Société it difficult to open the top of and swing out to be inserted d’Encouragement pour the carrying case very difficult into slots in the camera ends, l’Industrie Nationale. A short in the restricted space when being held in place by hooks text accompanies the plate. inserting or removing the that engage holes in the The delay in publishing could plate, especially as the canvas rods. The holes are spaced to be accounted for by the need cover need to be closed during

1Drawn and engraved by Adolphe Leblanc. 2‘A Treatise of Photography: Containing the Latest Discoveries and Improvements Appertaining to the Da- guerreotype’ by Noel Paymal Lerebours, London, Longman Brown Green and Longmans, 1843, p. 12, “The portable travelling stand for the camera, invented by Baron Seguier; the ball and socket at a allows the ope- rator to give the apparatus any direction he likes, the board c d unscrews, and the feet are jointed at e e e so as to fold in two.” The text is available here. The illustration is missing from this copy but is present in a later, translated, edition available here. 47

Details of Ill 1. The camera and equipment, Fig.1, Fig.2, Fig.9, Collection Nicholas Burnett THE DAGUERREOTYPE STUDIO

ART CHEMIQUES - PHOTOGRAPHIE DESCRIPTION d’un appareil photographique simplifié et portatif par M. le baron Séguier Bulletin of the Société d’Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale - Mars 1840, N.429 English Translation

The Baron Séguier presented to the administrative volume. council/Board of Directors, at its meeting of 9th Fig. 5. Plate holder, held to the tail-board. October 1839, a camera which he brought, adap- Fig. 6. Tail-board with plate holder detached. ted to make it more portable, with less volume Fig. 7. Vertical section of the plate holder and the and of considerably lighter weight, without chan- tail-board. ging the size of the plates; these changes intended Fig. 8. Plate holder fitted with plate, shown sepa- to make feasible, deep in the countryside, the va- rately. rious operations of photography, even those that Fig. 9. Support for mercury box , front view. seem to demand a darkroom against strong light. Fig. 10. The same, seen from the side. The apparatus, shown with all its details in plate Fig. 11. Vertical section of the iodine box whose 790, is composed of a black bellows chamber, whi- lid is provided with a ring. ch folds on itself and is provided with a handle to Fig. 12. The ball joint of the camera, elevation. make it easily transportable; it is housed in a box Fig. 13. The same, plan view. also containing the iodine box , the mercury boxW, Fig. 14. Vertical section of this joint drawn on a the bottles, the alcohol lamp and other accesso- larger scale ries. The camera is supported on a tripod with a The same letters denote the same objects in all ball joint that allows it to assume all desirable po- figures. sitions. A mantle of waterproof and light canvas, A, black camera bellows. B, Crate which houses laid on the tripod converts it into a small tent free the unit. B’ Handle of the crate. C, Iodine box. D, of daylight for the final preparatory operations in Mercurial vapour box forming an extension of the a practical and convenient way. case B. EE, flasks containing mercury, iodine, acid, Explanation of figures in plan 790. etc. F, iodine container placed at the bottom of Fig. 1. Black bellows camera placed on its tripod the box C. G, mercury container. H, spirit lamp. I, above the tent or envelope within which are arran- black canvas wrap, tent-shaped. K, L Plate holder ged the apparatus for the preparation of the pla- and tail board for receiving plate holder. M, Iron tes. Closing the tent by the buttons, one finds one rod stand on which the equipment is placed. N, is perfectly sheltered from the influences of light. metal plates housed in a box. O, carton containing Fig. 2. Vertical section of the box containing the cotton pads which are formed to clean and polish darkroom, plates, boxes for iodine and mercury, the plates. P Tray for washing plates. and all other accessories. This case, 5 decimetres a, Camera handle. b, Ball joint bearing the came- and a half high and 3 dm and a half wide, is equip- ra. c, Tube containing the achromatic lens. d e, ped with a handle for easy transport. Camera bellows. f, iron strips that unfold to hold Fig. 3. Camera, the bellows fully extended, sectio- the camera open, they are pierced at intervals, nal view. the holes aligning with hooks g attached to the Fig. 4. The same, folded and reduced to a small body L. 49 allow different measures of board are not clear from the the iodine box, the mercury bellows extension. However, illustrations, so it is probable vapour box, vials, trays, the the gaps between the holes that one of the layers in the spirit lamp. are large enough that they cross-sections represents the The support shaped as a might produce difficulties ground glass screen. tripod binds to the camera by in focussing. The lens has a The lens housing is also a ball joint; this allows the screw fitting which would innovative in that it has a junction to give the camera have allowed a little focussing screw fitting at each end all positions. movement by unscrewing allowing it to be unscrewed A mantle made of fabric it slightly but would this after use, slid into the body of impermeable to water and have been enough to fully the camera and screwed into light thrown over the tripod overcome the difficulty? The the mounting ring again to converts it into a small tent problem could be solved hold it firm within the camera under which one practices in a number of ways but is body during transportation, conveniently, and sheltered further evidence of a work thus saving space4. from the daylight, the in progress. In addition, the That the print shows a work various preparatory and final iron rods are placed within in progress is supported by operations. the bellows and penetrate the another presentation Séguier The desire not to deviate from front and back of the camera, made a few weeks later on proportions that I thought at creating eight places where the 4th November 1839 to first essential to the success light could potentially leak in. the Académie des Sciences5. of the operations induced Within a short time of using The report of the meeting me to give the presented the camera, Séguier would states that: “Mr. Séguier device too great dimensions; probably have changed the exhibited to the Academy a experience leads me to think arrangement and placed the photographic apparatus which it will be possible to further rods outside the bellows. he had somewhat modified. reduce significantly the Figure 2 shows that the holes The changes that I thought weight and volume of a future in the rods are staggered to I could usefully make to the construction”. compensate for one rod in apparatus currently adopted, Clearly there is some confusion each pair being hinged behind said Séguier, aim to decrease in the report between the the other. The engraver has the weight and volume of carrying box and the camera. made a mistake in the upper the entire apparatus. They Perhaps the carrying box was pair and got the holes the especially tend to make not brought or had not yet 3 wrong way around . feasible in the countryside been completed. The plate does not identify a the various operations of Many other reports spread ground-glass screen and the photography, even those that the news of Séguier’s work text does not mention one. Nor seem to need a shelter against and he even featured is a detached screen shown in strong light. in the famous cartoon the cross-section illustrating The unit that I present consists “Daguerreotypomania” by how the box is packed (nor is of a camera and its support. Theodore Maurisset which was the spirit burner). However, The camera is provided with published in December 1839 the exact construction of a handle to make it easily [Ill 4]. Séguier is shown in the the plate holder and tail transportable; it contains foreground on the left holding

3Another minor mistake on the engraving is that the ball and socket joint is labelled as B in two places where it should be b. 4The length of the lens between the flanges is almost double the distance between the holes in the iron rods. If the length had been ¾ of the distance then the double flange arrangement might have helped to solve the focussing problem. This means that the double flange arrangement does not play a role in solving the focussing problem and is purely a space saving modification. 5’Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des Sciences’, 1839, 9, p. 560. THE DAGUERREOTYPE STUDIO

Ill 2. “Daguerreotypomania” by Theodore Maurisset which was published in December 1839. Getty Search Gateway Detail of Ill 2. Showing Séguier holding his “APPAREIL PORTATIF POUR LE VOYAGE”. 51 his “APPAREIL PORTATIF POUR and scientific interests. The suggests that the camera and LE VOYAGE”. same year he published, equipment was still being “Perfectionnements dans la refined. WHO WAS BARON ARMAND- marine à vapeur”. PIERRE SÉGUIER? In May 1851 he was made Only one daguerreotype He was born in Montpellier an honorary member of by Séguier is known, the beautiful, “Still Life with on the 3rd of July 1803 into the British Meteorological Society10 and received the Plaster Casts” in the J. a noble family. From 1824 14 he followed his father’s Légion d’honneur11. 1855 finds Paul Getty Museum [Ill 5] . profession and practised as Séguier on the list of the first Séguier donated two other a lawyer. At the same time members in the French Society plates to the Académie des Sciences in 1840 along with he pursued a longstanding of Photography12. He died in a description of his method interest in science and 1876. Returning to 1839, most for preparing the plates but mechanics covering such interestingly, “Séguier was part these daguerreotypes cannot diverse subjects as clockwork of a small circle of amateurs be located and are presumed and locomotives6. that surrounded Jacques- lost15. Could the Getty image He published his “Mémoire sur Louis-Mandé Daguerre”13. have been taken with Séguier’s les appareils producteurs de As a member of the Académie camera? The daguerreotype vapeur, lu à l’Académie des des Sciences Séguier may Sciences” in 1832 and became plate measures 8½ x 6½ inches have been present at Arago’s 16 a member of the Académie announcement to that body in (21.6 x 16.2 cm ) whereas, des Sciences the following January 1839. Was he present the camera’s maximum plate year. He seems to have been when the process was first size appears to be around 8 th a very active member as his publicly explained, step by 55/64th x 5 20/64 inches name appears on numerous step, before a joint session (22½ x 13½ cm17, an unusual occasions in the Comptes of the Académie des Sciences size for daguerreotypes). Rendus, including his 1840 and the Académie des Beaux- It is most unlikely that the 7 paper relating to sensitising Arts on the 19th of August? engraver has made a mistake daguerreotype plates. On the If we assume Séguier’s first as the engraving is copied from 14th of February 1842 Séguier detailed knowledge of the the engraver’s own measured was elected to the Royal process dates from the 19th of drawing and is scaled. The Scottish Society of Arts8. After August, this gives a mere seven plate holder is too small for this daguerreotype to have his father’s death9 in 1848 his weeks before Séguier was able been taken with this camera. gave up his legal practice and to present his newly designed was able to devote himself and constructed camera on The J. Paul Getty Museum dates more fully to his mechanical the 9th of October. Again, this the Séguier daguerreotype to

6Essay by Stephen C. Pinson in ‘The Dawn of Photography, French Daguerreotypes 1839 – 1855’, Yale Univer- sity Press, 2003, catalogue entry 25. 7‘Sur l’ioduration des planches métalliques destine s à recevoir les images,et ser le role que jouent les bandes de plaque don’t on a coutume de les entourer’, Armand Pierre Séguier, in Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l‘Académie des Sciences, January 6, 1840. 8‘The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal: Exhibiting a View of the Progressive Discoveries and Impro- vements in the Sciences and the Arts’, Adam and Charles Black, 1842, p. 413. Available on Google Books 9Pinson 10The 1850 And 1851 Membership Lists of The British Meteorological Society, p. 6. Available here 11Wikipedia 12‘French Daguerreotypes’, Janet E. Buerger, University of Chicago Press, 1989, p. 92. 13 Getty Edu consulted on 11/5/2014 14 Accession number 2002.41 15‘Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des Sciences’, 1840, p.391 16 Pinson, catalogue entry 17 Size calculated by measurement against the printed scale in the illustration THE DAGUERREOTYPE STUDIO

Il 5. “Still Life with Plaster Casts“ Baron Armand-Pierre Séguier, 1839–42, J. Paul Getty Museum. Courtesy of The Getty’s Open Content Program Ill 6. “Still Life in the studio” L.G.M. Daguerre, 1839, by permission of National Heritage Institute CCR, Kynžvart Castle 53 between 1839 and 1842. It may Quite possibly, the Getty followers”22. Intriguingly, be possible to date it more plate was clearly thought to the statue of Jupiter in the precisely. The plate appears be of a quality suitable to be Séguier plate also appears similar to plates produced presented by Séguier to the in a plate by Daguerre [Ill by iodine sensitisation alone. curator of antiquities at the 6]. The Getty catalogue lists The addition of bromine or Louvre, the Comte de Clarac, the Séguier plate as being chlorine to the sensitisation as recorded by an inscription20 by “Baron Armand-Pierre process was discovered in mid on the verso. Séguier, possibly in association to late 1840. It was published The “old procedure” with Louis-Jacques-Mandé by the end of the year and mentioned by Chevalier is Daguerre”23. This association was then rapidly adopted. Daguerre’s original process21 seems likely. The plate size An iodine-sensitised plate is which used iodine sensitisation would not fit Séguier’s camera likely to be earlier than 1842. alone, exactly the same as the though it would have fitted In 1841 the optician Charles Getty plate. Writing in 1841, Daguerre’s. Since Séguier Chevalier (1804–59) wrote the phrase “done a long time was able to present a camera that, “Groups of art objects ago” may refer to 1840 or to the meeting on the 9th form very gracious images more likely, 1839. of October he would most and are easy to reproduce Séguier had learnt the probably have used his own (...) One should choose but daguerreotype process camera after that date, and the best models, such as the from Daguerre himself. As possibly a little before. The beautiful specimens by Mr. Geoffrey Batchen notes: daguerreotype may therefore Hùbert18 and Baron Séguier. “In order to promote his date from between the 19th of The latter gave us one of his invention, Daguerre offered August and the 9th of October groups that, although it was free public demonstrations 1839. done a long time ago by the at various establishments Séguier’s photographs are old procedure, still excites in Paris after August 1839, extremely rare. He did not the admiration of artists”19. and Baron Armand-Pierre exhibit his work and seems to Could the Getty plate be Séguier appears to have been have been more interested in the plate referred to here? among his most enthusiastic other branches of science and

18Alphonse Eugène Hubert was Daguerre’s assistant, ‘The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today’ edited by Roxana Marcoci, p. 21. 19‘Under the light of Helios: early photography and the Parthenon sculptures’, Marc Fehlmann, Footnote 29 C. Chevalier, ‘Nouvelles Instructions sur l’usage du Daguerréotype. Description d’un nou-veau photographe . . .’, Paris, 1841, p. 49: ‘Les groupes d’objets d’art for-ment des tableaux très gracieux et sont facile à réproduire. [. . .] On nesaurait choisir de meilleurs modèlesen ce genre, que les belles épreuves de M. Hùbert et du Baron Séguier. Cedernier a bien voulu nous donner unde ses groupes qui, bien qu’éxécuté depuis fort longtemps et par les anciens procédéés, excite toujours l’admiration des artistes.’ 20The Getty catalogue records the verso as being inscribed in black ink at the upper centre, on brown backing paper, by Séguier: ‘Au Cte de Clarac / par / son ami B[aro]n Séguier / amicitae signum”; inscribed in black ink, at upper centre under Séguier’s inscription, in a later unknown hand: “vente de clarac -- avril 1847”. 21This is confirmed by a comparison between the two processes in chapter II (page 18) of, ‘A Treatise of Pho- tography: Containing the Latest Discoveries and Improvements Appertaining to the Daguerreotype’ by Noel Paymal Lerebours, London, Longman Brown Green and Longmans, 1843. Available at Google Books 22Geoffrey Batchen, in ‘Light and Dark: The Daguerreotype and Art History’, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 86, No. 4 23Getty Edu consulted on 11/5/2014 24‘Nouvelles Instructions sur le usage du Daguerréotype. Description D’un Nouveau Photographe...’, Charles Chevalier, Paris, Charles Chevalier, 1841, p.15 ‘Changes that have reduced the unit, focus on accessories. The squared shuttered of M. Daguerre, we replace with the sliding frames Mr. Séguier. The large iodine box is replaced by that of Mr. Seguier or that of M. de Brébisson.’ P. 33, ‘1 Iodage. The old box for this operation is now replaced either by Baron Séguier’s box, or by that of M. de Brébisson. In the first, iodine is released into carded cotton covering a board that absorbs the fumes of iodine and communicate that to the metal plate when placed next to it. The board is constantly charged since one side thereof is in contact with each.’ THE DAGUERREOTYPE STUDIO

Details of Ill 1. The camera and equipment, Fig. 3, Collection Nicholas Burnett 55 mechanics. His other early de Saint-Victor’s unfixed a costly illustration for clarity. contributions to photography colour daguerreotypes to the This may account for the delay include a new design for an Société d’Encouragement in the adoption of bellows by iodine fuming box24 and a pour l’Industrie Nationale27. camera makers. type of washing tray25. His Séguier’s camera and Although one beautiful contributions to photography equipment made more of daguerreotype by Séguier has seem to have then tailed off. a lasting impact than his survived, his ground-breaking In the early 1850s, however, photography. The use of a camera and innovative he experimented with making tripod with a ball-and-socket equipment are not known to direct wet collodion positives joint was widely reported and have survived to the present by backing them with canvas adopted. Camera bellows and day. coated with black wax. On the various space and weight the 1st of December 1852 he is saving innovations were less recorded as presenting Niépce easily described and needed

25‘Guide Du Photographe, Deuxieme Partie. Nouveaux Mémoires Et Renseignements’, Charles Chevalier, Paris, Charles Chevalier 1854. From Google books. P. 92 ‘M. Robert se sert exclusivement des cuvettes à fond de glace ou de verre double, avec bords en bois vernis au pinceau, à l’aide de vernis épais de copal et de laque. Ces cuvettes sont très commodes, présentent un fond bien plat et si des accidents arrivent on peut facilement les raccommoder. En effet, si quelques fissures se font on les rebouche à l’aide d’un pinceau et de vernis. Si le fond se casse on en adapte un autre, ou s’il n’y a qu’une simple fente on colle une bande de papier que l’on enduit de vernis et la cuvette peut très bien servir. On peut construire des cuvettes de toutes grandeurs, ce qui est très difficile et même impraticable avec la porcelaine; on doit se rappeler que l’idée première de ces cuvettes appartient à M. le baron Séguier.’ Roughly translated as, ‘Mr. Robert uses exclusively trays with a glass base or double glass, with edges var- nished with a wooden brush, using thick copal varnish and lacquer. These trays are very convenient, have a good flat bottom and if accidents happen you can easily mend them. Indeed, if there are some cracks they can be blocked again using a brush and varnish. If the bottom breaks we adapt another, or if there is a single crack gluing a strip of paper that is coated with varnish and the bowl may well serve. You can build bowls of all sizes, which is very difficult and even impractical with porcelain; it must be remembered that the first idea of these bowls belongs to Baron Seguier.’ 26‘Mélanges Photographiques’, Marc Antoine Augustin Gaudin in La Lumiere, No. 17, April 23rd 1853, p.67 27 The New York Times, the 3rd of January 1853 ON THE MATERIALITY OF IMAGES

How to Protect a Daguerreotype? by Herman Maes, Nederlands Foto Museum, Rotterdam

o Louis Daguerre it was protective layer could easily the unprotected silver surface clear that an image be removed by immersing the would be covered by a tarni- Tcould easily be dama- plate in boiling water. shed layer. This layer would ged, simply by touching it. Daguerre himself had some gradually blur the image. That In his report of the ‘Cham- clear ideas on how to protect is why we normally find a pro- bre des députés’ from 1839, a daguerreotype. He propo- cessed daguerreotype plate in the French physicist Francois sed to keep the plate behind a special protective housing. Arago compared the delicacy glass, fix it and make it thus These housings are considered of the image with a ribbon of inalterable for sunlight. When to be an integral part of the lace and the wings of a butter- you took the image on a jour- daguerreotype. fly. For him this was even an ney, he advised to keep the obstacle in the further distri- daguerreotype in a box with a bution of the invention of Da- strip of paper on the joints. CONFUSING guerre. For that reason, Ara- The label ‘daguerreotype’ is go fowarded a request to Mr. often used to describe the Dumas to solve this problem. HOUSING typical style of the protective Dumas proposed to protect Although gold toning improved housing, not the plate. That is the surface of the daguerre- the stability of the surface, understandable, because the- otype with a varnish, a boiling the image was still very sense housings were also used for solution of one part dextrin sitive to physical and mecha- other photographs such as wet into five parts of water. This nical damage. In a short time, collodion positives and even

Ill 1. Wooden box for daguerreotype with daguerreotype plates, Collection Museum Enschedé, Haarlem 57 prints on paper. Soon after the introduction of the wet collodion process, negatives were presented as positives, first on glass (ambrotype), leather and textile (pannotype) and later on lacquered plates (tintype, ferrotype). This practice added firmly to the confusion. Photographers benefitted from this confusion keeping the labels ambigous. What did they mean by ‘Daguerréotype sur papier’, prints made after daguerreotypes, prints from daguerreotypes or paper photographs that were mounted in a nice housing? Ill 2. Label found on the back of daguerreotypes’s housing COMPETITOR Ill 3. Two children Nevertheless, the wet col- sitting in a big chair, lodion positive was a strong c. 1850, Ambrotype competitor for the daguerre- in a “daguerreotype otype. It was cheaper and less housing”, Private time-consuming to produce a collection wet collodion positive. Gra- dually, the daguerreotypists shifted to this new technique, although many of them believed that the daguerreotype was the ‘real thing’.

BUSINESS Photography became a se- rious business. The number acceptable level. readable ambrotype. The am- of photographers increased brotype was darker and face and the market for daguerre- TECHNIQUE OR TASTE? and skin looked more natural. otypes was reduced. Special If you visited a studio in the Unless you were seduced by offers to attract a clientèle, 1850’s to make a portrait to the sharpness and brilliancy of became a daily practice, al- enhance your social status, the daguerrotype. You would though quality was not always the photographer offerd you a probably following your taste, guaranteed. In the 1840’s, ha- wide choice of techniques. It rather than choosing a techni- ving a daguerreotype portrait would be difficult for you to que. Whatever technique you was a privilege, an exclusive make a distinction between would choose, the portrait lo- and precious jewel. From the a well-made ambrotype and oked more or less the same to 1850’s on, when other types a daguerreotype. Especially you and you were sure to buy of photography flourished, if it was mounted in a simi- something fashionable. the price of a daguerreotype lar decorative housing. You portrait decreased to a more might prefer the more easily To be continued DAGUERREOTYPE journal Sharing the Internationa Cultural and Visual Heritage of Daguerreotypes The European Daguerreotype Association www.daguerreobase.org

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