A history and handbook of photography

Front matter

1*^

Erratum

Page 320, line 22, for 12 ounces read 12 gi-ains

Preface

elapsed and the new invention has spread abroad and become so well known, that it has penetrated everywhere, in every civilised country, into the dwellings of the poor as well as of the rich. Unhappy indeed is he who cannot have recourse, for the picture of that which he loves, to photography, that sublime and beneficent art which gives us at such little cost the human visage in its exactitude, which presents to our eyes as in a mirror the scenery of distant lands, which lends its aid to all the sciences, which accompanies the astronomer into the depths of the heavens, the micrographer into the invisible world, and which even comes to the assistance of the besieged city, reducing its messages to the easy burden of a bird !

In studying the plan of this work, the author was impressed with the importance of the subject ; in writing it, he experienced a deep admiration, which it has been his aim to impart to the reader. He has endeavoured to make his sketch at once a practical guide to the amateur photographer, and an attractive and instructive history, as is that of all scientific conquests when narrated with truth and sincerity.

In this second edition which follows so closely on the first, some gaps, which the development of the art rendered in some degree inevitable, have been filled up from the large number of new facts which have come to light.

G. T.

Chapter I. The Origin Of Photography

PAGE

J. K. PORTA ANn THE DARK ROONf — FABRICIUS THE ALCHEMIST — I.UNA CORNEA — PROFESSOR CHARLES'S SILHOUETTES — WEDG- WOOD, HUMPHRY DAVY, AND JAMES WATT . . . ' . I

CHAPTER ir.

DAGUERRE.

DEGOTTI THE SCENE PAINTER — EARLY LIFE OF DAGUERRE — IN- VENTION OF THE DIORAMA — THE CAMERA OR DARK ROOM — CHEVALIER THE OPTICIAN— THE HISTORY OF AN UNKNOWN — FIRST LETTER OF D.-VGUERRE TO NIEPCE I4

CHAPTER HI.

NICfiPHORE NIEPCE.

THE TWO BROTHERS NIEPCE — THEIR YOUTH — THEIR WORKS — THE PYRELOPHORE— HYDRAULIC MACHINE — NICfiPHORE'S RESEARCHES IN HELIOGRAPHY— RESULTS OBTAINED 26

VI

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

THE NIEPCE-DAGUERRE PARTNERSHIP.

PAGE

CORRESPONDENCE EXCHANGED BETWEEN THE TWO INVENTORS — DISTRUST AND RESERVE OF NIEPCE — HIS JOURNEY TO PARIS — HIS INTERVIEWS WITH DAGUERRE — HIS JOURNEY TO LONDON — ACT OF PARTNERSHIP — DEATH OK NIEPCE . . . . 40

CHAPTER V.

THE DAGUERREOTYPE.

DAGUERRE'S RESEARCHES AND STUDIES — HE CEDES HIS INVENTION TO THE STATE — ARAGO AND THE DAWN OF PHOTOGRAPHY— A BILL LAID BEFORE THE HOUSE — REASONS FOR ITS BEING PASSED — MEETING OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, AUGUST lO, 1839 •

CHAPTER VI.

THE PROGRESS OF A NEW ART.

THE DAGUERREOTYPE PROCESS — ACCELERATING SUBSTANCES — IM- PROVED LENSES — PORTRAITS — FIXING AGENTS — DISCOVERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ON PAPER BY TALBOT — M. BLANQUART-EVRARD 64

CHAPTER VII.

PHOTOGRAPHY.

SIR JOHN HERSCHEL — HYPOSULPHITE OF SODA— NIEPCE DE SAINT-

VICTOR'S NEGATIVE ON GLASS — GUN-COTTON AND COLLODION 79

-^~. '' iii i i ni >: ij CTi

CONTENTS.

VIl

Part II. The Operations And Processes Of Photography

CHAPTER I.

THE STUDIO AND APPARATUS.

PAGIi

ARRANGEMENT OK A GOOD STUDIO— THE DARK ROOM — TERRACE — SITTING ROOM — THE INFLUENCE OF LIGHT — ARRANGEMENTS FOR LIGHTING THE OBJECT TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED— THE APPA- RATUS — LENSES AND CAMERAS 89

CHAPTER n.

•1' H E N E G A T I V E.

MANIPULATION OF THE PHOTOGRAPH — CLEANING THE PLATE — COATING THE PLATE WITPI COLLODION — PLACING IT IN Till'. SILVER BATH — EXPOSURE IN THE CAMERA — DEVELOPMENT, FIXING AND VARNISHING I05

CHAPTER HI.

THE POSITIVE ON PAPER.

PRINTING ON PAPER— OF THE NATURE AND QUALITIES OF PHOTO-" GRAPHIC PAPERS — VIGNETTES — EXPOSURE TO THE LIGHT — TONING — FIXING— ROLLING THE PROOFS 122

CHAPTER IV.

THEORY AND PRACTICE.

EXPLANATION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC OPERATIONS— NECESSITY OF LONG PRACTICE— MODIFICATIONS IN PROCESSES REQUIRED BY DIF- FERENT SORTS OF PHOTOGRAPHY — PHOTOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL — LANDSCAPES — SKIES — PORTRAITS — INSTANTANEOUS PHOTO- GRAPHY 132

VI 11

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

RETOUCHING.

PAGE

ACCIDENTS WITH NEGATIVES AND PROOFS —METHOD OF REMEDYING THE SAME — RETOUCHING THE NEGATIVE— IMPERFECTIONS IN THE POSITIVE— RETOUCHING PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOFS WITH INDIAN INK — COLOURING PHOTOGRAPHS -PHOTOGRAPHIC CARI- CATURES 141

CHAPTER VI.

ENLARGEMENT OF PROOFS.

APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR ENLARGING NEGATIVE PROOFS — WOOD- WARD'S SY.STEM— MONCKHOVEN'S APPARATUS— UNIVERSAL SOLAR CAMERA 147

CHAPTER Vn.

PROCESSES.

I'lIE DRY COLLODION PROCESS — EMPLOYMENT OF ALBUMEN, HONEY, AND TANNIN — WAXED PAPER PROCESS— PERMANENT PHOTf)- GRAPHY BY THE CARBON PROCESS— METHODS OF POITEVIN, SWAN, ETC 153

CHAPTER VIII.

PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED.

THE FIXING OF COLOURS — A MYSTIFICATION — EDMOND BECQUE- KEL's EXPERIMENTS — ATTEMPTS OF NIEPCE DE SAINT-VICTOR AND POITEVIN — PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING .... 169

CONTENTS.

IX

Part III. The Applications Of Photography

CHAPTER I.

■: HELIOGRAPHY.

PAGE THE DAGUERREOTYPE PLATE TRANSFORMED INTO AN ENGRAVED

PLATE— D0NN6 — FIZEAU — THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ENGRAVING OF NIEPCE DE SAINT-VICTOR— PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHY AND HELIO- GRAPHY INVENTED BY A. POITEVIN — PROCESSES OF BALDUS, GARNIER. ETC.— 'JHE ALBERTYPE — OBERNETTER'S PROCESS — MODERN HELIOGRAPHY 1 79

CHAPTER n.

PHOTOGLYPTY (THE WOODBURY PROCESS).

WOODBURY — IMPRESSION OF A GELATINISED PLATE INTO A BLOCK OF METAL — WORKING OF PHOTOGLYPTIC METHODS IN PARIS — DESCRIPTION OF MESSRS. GOUPIL'S ESTABLISHMENT — M. LEMERCIER

CHAPTER HI.

PHOTOSCULPTURE.

AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY — PHOTOGRAPHY APPLIED TO SCULP- TURE — WILLEME'S PROCESS IN 1861 — DESCRIPTION OF PHOTO- SCULPTURE 208

CHAPTER IV.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ENAMELS.

VITRIFICATION OF A PHOTOGRAPH— CAMARSAC'S PROCESS— JEWELRY ENAMEL — METHOD OF MAKING — POITEVIN'S METHOD — PER- MANENT GLAZE PHOTOGRAPHS 214

X

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

PHOTOMICROGRAPHY.

I'AGE THE TOY MICROSCOPES OF THE PARIS INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

— 450 DEPUTIES IN THE SPACE OF A PIN'S HEAD — ARRANGE- MENTS OF PHOTOxMICROGRAPHIC APPARATUS — THE NATURAL SCIENCES AND PHOTOMICROGRAPHY — RESOURCES BORROWED FROM THE HELIOGRAPH 220

CHAPTER VI.

MICROSCOPIC DESPATCHES DURING THE SIEGE OF PARIS.

APPLICATION OF MICROSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHY TO THE ART OF WAR — THREE MILLION PRINTED LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET ON THE TAIL OF A PIGEON— ENLARGEMENT OF THE DESPATCHES — THEIR CONVEYANCE BY CARRIER-PIGEONS .... 235

CHAPTER VH.

ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY.

CELESTIAL PHOTOGRAPHY — DIFFICULTIES OF ASTRONOMICAL PHO- TOGRAPHIC OPERATIONS— MESSRS. WARREN DE LA RUE, RUTH- ERFURD, GRUBB, ETC. —THE LUNAR MOUNTAINS — THE SPOTS ON THE SUN, ETC. — IMPORTANCE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTS FOR THE HISTORY OF THE HEAVENS 249

CHAPTER Vni.

PHOTOGRAPHIC REGISTERING INSTRUMENTS.

IMPORTANCE OF REGISTERING INSTRUMENTS — PHOTOGRAPHIC BARO- METERS AND THERMOMETERS — THE REGISTRATION OF THE VIBRATIONS OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE— RONALD'S PHOTO- ELECTROGRAPH — PHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTOMETRY— PHOTOGRAPHY OF COLUMNS OF WATER RAISED BY A TORPEDO — OF THE PHENOMENA OF THE INTERFERENCE OF THE RAYS OF THE SPECTRUM 268

CHAPTER IX.

THE STEREOSCOPE.

A FEW WORDS ON STEREOSCOPIC VISION — MEANS OF MAKING PHO- TOGRAPHIC PRINTS APPEAR IN RELIEF— WHEATSTONE'S STEREO-

CONTENTS.

XI

SCOPE— MONOSTEREOSCOPE- ARE PRODUCED

-HOW STEREOSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHS

CHAPTER X.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART.

IS PHOTOGRAPHY ART? — ITS USES IN RELATION TO PAINTING, REPRODUCTION OF ENGRAVINGS, VOYAGES OK DISCOVERY — PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE MAGNESIUM LIGHT — PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS CONSIDERED AS HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS . . 297

CHAPTER XI.

THE FUTURE OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

LAND-SURVEYING — THE ART OF WAR— WORKS OF ART — CRIMINALS AND JUDICIAL PHOTOGRAPHY — THE MIRACLES OF INSTANTA- NEOUS PHOTOGRAPHY . • 306

Appendix

PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHY -PANORAMIC CAMERA — THE HELIOTYPE PROCESS — THE PHOTO-TINT PROCESS — EPITOME OF THE WET COLLODION PROCESS AND USEFUL FORMULAE — SENSITISING BATH — DARK ROOM OPERATIONS — FIXING — POSITIVE SILVER-PRINT- ING FORMULA — SIMPLE METHOD OF PREPARING DRY PLATES — ENGLISH AND FRENCH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES . . • 313

Index

ADVERTISEMENTS relating to photography j^o

327 ci scj.

ajiuiDWi.'jWM'W

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FULL- PAGE ENGRAVINGS.

PORTRAIT frOjM lifk BY THE PHOTO-TINT PROCESS . Frontispiece

PROFESSOR CHARLES'S EXPERIMENT .... To face p. ID

daguerre's diorama ,,13

TllK DARK ROOM ,,9°

SPECIMEN OF A HELiOGRAPHic ENGRAVING. (After a Drawing by Gustave Dore ) . . . . . . . ,,196

THE SOLDIER OF MARATHON m '97

FACSIMILE OF THE PHOTOGRAPH OF A FLEA, OBTAINED BY

THE rHOTOMICROGRAPHIC APPARATUS . . . ,, 23O

ENLARGING MICROSCOPICAL DESPATCHES DURING THE SIEGE

OF PARIS . ,, 241

DEPARTURE OF CARRIER-PIGEONS FROM THE CHAxMPS-

fiLYS^ES, PARIS ,, 247

SALLERON'S PHOTOGRAPHIC BAROMETER AND THERMO- METER ,, 275

PHOTO-ELECTROGRAPHIC INSTRUMENT AT KEW OBSERVA- TORY, FOR REGISTERING THE STATE AND VARIATIONS OF THE ELECTRICITY OF THE AIR .... ,, 277

IOCKYER'S APPARATUS FOR ANALYSING AN ALLOY OF GOLD

AND SILVER BY THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF ITS SPECTRUM ,, 285

XIV

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

APFARATUS FOR OBTAINING THE TWO PROOFS OF THE

STEREOSCOPE To face p. 295

FAC-SIMILE OF A STEREOSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPH. . . ,, 296

PHOTOGRAPHY AND EXPLORATION ,, 302

THE POL^MOSCOPE ,, 307

WOODCUTS IN TEXT.

PAGE THE DARK ROOM .2

THE IMAGE OF THE SUN FORMED ON THE SHADOW OF A TREE 3

JOSEPH NIEPCE 44

DAGl-ERREOTYPR POLISHER 65

MERCURIAL DEVELOPING BOX 66

GILDING THE DAGUERREOTYPE PLATE 69

PHOTOGRAPHIC BELLOWS CAMERA 94

THE LENS, WITH ITS RACKWORK AND CAP .... 96

SIMPLE PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS 97

THE CAMERA STAND 99

THE DARK SLIDE IOC

TWIN-LENS CAMERA, SHOWING DARK SLIDE AND DIAPHRAGMS . lOI

THE HEAD-REST IO3

PLATE-HOLDER I06

COATING THE PLATE. FIRST POSITION OF THE HANDS . . I09

SECOND POSITION OF THE HANDS . . . . |» . IO9

SENSITISING TRAY Ill

SILVER HOOK FOR RAISING AND LOWERING THE PLATE . . Ill

LIST OF' ILLUSTRATIONS.

XV

PAGE

GLASS BATH IN CASE WITH GLASS DIPPER . . . . 112

WASHING THE DEVELOPED IMAGE II4

RACK FOR DRYING PLA'.'ES II 8

PLATE BOX 119

THE PRINTING FRAME . . . . . . . . 124

PRINTING FRAMES EXPOSED TO THE LIGHT .... I26

SIMPLE PRINTING FRAME 126

THE ROLLING PRESS . I29

PORTABLE PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS I36

PHOTOGRAPHIC CARICATURE . . . . . . . I44

MONCKHOVEN'S ENLARGING CAMERA I49

LIEBERT'S ENLARGING APPARATUS I50

THE SOLDIER OF MARATHON I97

PHOTOGLYPTIC PRESS ......... 202

TURN-TABLE REQUIRED FOR TAKING PHOTOGLYPTIC PROOFS . 203

PHOTO-ENAMEL BROOCH 2I7

DUSTING-SIEVE 2l8

TOY MICROSCOPE OF THE EXHIBITION OF 1867 .... 220

MICROSCOPE FITTED TO THE CAMERA 224

ARRANGEMENT OF THE PHOTOMICROGRAPHIC APPARATUS ON A

BENCH _ . 226

VERTICAL MICROSCOPE ADAPTED TO THE CAMERA FOR PHOTOMI- CROGRAPHY ^228

PHOTOMICROGRAPHIC APPARATUS FOR ARTIFICIAL LIGHT . . 229

FACSIMILE OF THE PHOTOGRAPH OF SECTIONS OF THE STEM OF

SECTION OF THE WOOD OF A FIR-TREE 23O

GROUP OF DIATOMS 23I

XVI

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

I'AfiE

SECTION OF THE FIN OF A WHALE . ' 2^2

EPIDERMIS OF A CATERPILLAR 233

CARRIER-PIGEON WITH PHOTOGRAPHIC DESPATCHES . . 236

QUILL CONTAINING MICROSCOPIC DESPATCHES FASTENED TO A

TAIL FEATHER OF CARRIER-PIGEON 237

STAMPS, SHOWING WHEN DESPATCHES WERE FORWARDED OR RE- CEIVED, PRINTED ON THE WING 238

FACSIMILE OF A MICROSCOPIC DESPATCH DURING THE SIEGE OF

PARIS 239

CHINESE WHISTLES ATTACHED TO CARRIER-PIGEONS . . . 245

LUNAR MOUNTAINS. AFTER A PHOTOGRAPH BY MR, WARREN DE

LA RUE 254

UNDULATING LINES TRACED ON THE CARRIER OF THE ELECTRO- GRAPH 278

BREWSTER'S STEREOSCOPE • 29O

HEIMHOLTZ'S STEREOSCOPE 29 1

MONO-STEREOSCOPIC PRINT . . . . - . . . 292

FEVRIER'S PILLAR STEREOSCOPE 293

PLATE FOR SUPPORTING THE CAMERA WHEN TAKING STEREO- SCOPIC VIEW 295

PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE MAGNESIUM LIGHT IN THE CATACOMBS 303

PANORAMIC CAMERA . . . 3I4

Part I. The History Of Photography

CHAPTER I.

THE ORIGIN OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

J. B. PORTA AND THE DARK ROOM — FABRICIUS THE ALCHEMIST — LUNA CORNEA— PROFESSOR CHARLES' SILHOUETTES — WEDGWOOD, HUMPHRY DAVY, AND JAMES WATT.

The discovery of photography ranks amongst the most wonderful applications of modern science ; we ow^e it almost solely to the genius of Niepce and Daguerre. We shall mention the obstacles which these great minds had to overcome before solving a problem which had long been looked upon as Utopian ; we shall thus see with what perseverance the inventor must arm himself to attain his ends. But before relating facts we think it would be useful to look a little farther into the past to seek their causes. Nothing is more instructive than the impartial history of great discoveries ; it shows us how slow is the march of progress, and how many beacons

B

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

must shine along the course of centuries to guide the inventor into the region of the unknown. First appears a man who sows the germ, others fohow and cultivate it, up to the time when some genius fertilises and renders it fruitful.

The germ of photography is the dark room (or camera obscura), discovered in the second half of the sixteenth century by J. B. Porta, a clever Italian philo-

Fig. I.

THE DARK ROOM.

sophcr. The process which the illustrious Neapolitan employed was most simple. He made an aperture, hardly large enough to admit the little finger, in the shutter of a window so perfectly closed as entirely to exclude light. The rays of light penetrating through the circular hole into the dark room were projected on to a white screen, on which they depicted the reversed

THE ORIGIN OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

image of exterior objects. (Fig. i.) The simple observation of Nature might have led at once to this dis-

Fiar 2.

THE IMAGE OF THE SUN FORMED ON THE SHADOW OF A TREE.

covery. The foliage of trees does not entirely intercept the sun's light, it often allows rays of light to pass

B 2

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

|l through the spaces which exist between the leaves, and the images of the ruler of the day appear as luminous discs in the midst of the well-defined shadows on the ground, (Fig. 2.) It is easy to reproduce this phenomenon by passing the light of a candle across a small orifice, and projecting it on to a screen, on which a reversed imiage of the flame will be seen.

Porta, in his treatise on ' Natural Magic,' goes into raptures, and excusably, over his discovery, of which he seems to have foreseen all the future importance ; he describes it with irrepressible admiration, and after describing it, exclaims with enthusiasm, ' We can discover Nature's greatest secrets ! '

And truly, indeed, must those have wondered whom Porta initiated into the mysteries of his dark room ! With what bewilderment would they not contemplate this sharp, lifelike, and delicate picture, drawn by the light on a screen, which was thus transformed into a faithful mirror !

Soon, by means of a convex lens, fixed in\the aperture in his shutter, and by the aid of a glass mirror which reversed the image, Porta was enabled to contemplate the representation of exterior objects no longer reversed, but in their natural positions. Porta lost no time in recommending the use of the dark room to all

THE ORIGIN OF PHOTOGHAPHY.

painters desirous of obtaining exact and minute delineation, and shortly afterwards Canaletto profited by his advice and employed the invention for taking his ad mirable views of Venice.

What would the Neapolitan philosopher and the Venetian painter have said had they been told that this image of the dark room would one day draw itself, not merely fugitively, but that it would print itself on a glass moistened with chemical agents, that it would transform itself into a durable picture, only to be compared for exactness to the reflection of a mirror ? This wonder was, indeed, to be accomplished unknown to Porta ; but his work was not in itself sufficient to conduct science to such a result, numerous labourers had also to add their stone to the edifice.

To find another of the original principles of photography we must quit Naples and transport ourselves to France, and to a little earlier epoch, when alchemy seemed to have attained its utmost development. It was in the middle of the sixteenth century that the action of light on the nitrates of silver was accidentally discovered by an alchemist.

The few isolated observations which had been made up to this time were very incomplete and little known. The Greeks knew that the opal and amethyst lost their

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

brilliance if exposed to the lengthened action of the solar rays. Vitmvius had noticed that the sun altered and changed certain colours used in painting, and therefore always placed his pictures in rooms with a northern aspect. But such observations as these can hardly be considered as the results of scientific study.

The alchemists have often been the subject of calumny. Though it is true that amongst the adepts in the 'Black Art' there were numerous charlatans and quacks, it must not be forgotten that a large number of the philosophers of the middle ages, men of indefatigable research, were possessed with a real love of their art ; which they cultivated if not with method at least with invincible perseverance. It was one of these laborious workers who first produced chloride of silver, and recognised the important property possessed by this substance of becoming black under the action of light.

This disciple of Hermes was named Fabricius. One fine day, buried probably in the confusion of his laboratory, after having conjured up the devil and all the imps of darkness, after having in vain ransacked the books of magic, which swarmed in the middle ages, for the formula of that panacea which was to prolong life, cure all ills, and transmute the metals, he threw some sea salt into a solution of nitrate of silver and obtained

THE ORIGIN OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

a precipitate (chloride of silver) to which the alchemists of those times gave the name of ' Luna cornea,' or 'horn-silver.' He collected it, and what was his astonishment when he perceived that this substance, as white as milk, became suddenly black as soon as a ray of sunlight fell on its surface !

Fabricius continued to study this remarkable property, and in his ' Book of the Metals,' published in 1556, he relates that the image projected by a glass lens on to a surface of ' Luna cornea ' imprinted itself in black and grey, according as the parts were completely illuminated, or touched only by diffused light. But here the alchemist stopped ; this fact, so full of significance, remained a dead letter in his hands. The science of those times, powerless through want of method, ignored the art of inferring from observation, and of confirming by experiments the deductions thus obtained. The chemists of this epoch could not see because their eyes had not been trained to look ; they let the fact escape and pursued the fancy ; like the dog in the fable, they abandoned the substance to grasp the shadow. What did it signify to Brandt if he discovered phosphorus, to Basile Valentin if antimony issued from his crucibles, to Albert the Great if nitric acid was distilled in his retort .'' all this, to these preoccupied minds, was not the philoso-

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

pher's stone. They did not deem it worth while to stop at such inventions. They passed on, and condemned themselves to wander in labyrinths without issues, they travelled through life as if impelled by fate towards a chimerical goal, which they could never reach. They groped along regardless of the great opportunities with which chance strewed their path, and did not even stoop to lift the gems which good fortune threw in their way !

Fabricius missed the principle of one of the most astonishing arts of modern times. Why was he not struck with some sublime presentiment, of which genius seems to have the secret .'' why was he not suddenly seized with one of those fortuitous inspirations which seem to be the oirthright of true genius.'

It was thus that, in 1760, a fantastical writer, though not a Fabricius, nevertheless divined photography. If Cyrano de Bergerac, born two centuries before balloons, may be considered as an aeronaut, Tiphaine de la Roche may be equally regarded as a photographer. This Tiphaine was a native of Normandy and a great lover of eccentricities ; he has left us a whimsical book in which there is much that is astonishing, buried though it is in an indescribable medley of nonsense. In one of the chapters of this

-■»iiinniariii^^

THE ORIGIN OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

curious old book he relates how he was caught up in a hurricane and deposited in the domain of the genii, who initiated him in the secrets of Nature. ' You know,' said one of them to Tiphaine, * that rays of light reflected from different bodies form pictures, paint the image reflected on all polished surfaces — for example, on the retina of the eye, on water, and on glass. The spirits have sought to fix these fleeting images ; ' they have made a subtle matter by means of which a picture is formed in the twinkling of an eye. They coat a piece of canvas with this matter, and place it in front of the object to be taken. The first effect of this cloth is similar to that of the mirror, but by means of its viscous nature the prepared canvas, as is not the case with the mirror, retains a facsimile of the image. The mirror represents images faithfully, but retains none ; our canvas reflects them no less faithfully, but retains them all. This impression of the image is instantaneous. The canvas is removed and deposited in a dark place.

' This recalls a Chinese tradition which accords to the sun the power of photographing a landscape on a sheet of ice. An ancient sage, it is said, discovered a picture of the trees and shrubs on the banks of a stream engraven on its frozen surface. It seemed as if the reflected image were caught and frozen on the ice. But this early example of photography, if it ever existed at all, may have been produced by a powerful gleam* of the hot sun of North China tracing the outlines of shadows thrown across a dark surface of ice thinly covered with snow. — Ed.

lO

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

An hour after the impression is dry, and you have a picture the more precious in that no art can imitate its truthfuhiess.'

In writing these truly prophetic Hnes, had Roche no knowledge of the book of Fabricius, or rather had he not himself experimented with Porta's dark room, in supposing, as though in a dream, that the fleeting reflection had been fixed for ever ? We cannot say. But however that may be, to find really serious and scientific studies we must come down to the end of the eighteenth century — to that period, the most surprising perhaps in the history of progress, when the gloom of the past dispersed, when light appeared, when the savant rubbed his eyes and for the first time looked around him.

In 1777, Scheele, the great Swedish chemist, discovered that chloride of silver is much more sensitive to blue and violet rays than to those of a green and red colour. About the year 1780, Professor Charles, the inventor of the hydrogen gas balloon, made the first use of the dark room for attempting to produce rudimentary photographs. He exhibited to the numerous and attentive audience at his course of lectures on natural science a curious, and at that time even wonderful experiment. By means of a strong solar ray, he projected a shadow of the head of one of his pupils tn

THE ORIGIN OF PHOTOGRAPH^',

II on to a sheet of white paper which had previously been soaked in a solution of chloride of silver. Under the influence of the light it was not long in becoming black in the parts exposed, remaining white on that portion of the sheet which had been shaded, and thus giving a faithful silhouette of the person's head in white on a black ground. (Fig. 3.') This sheet of paper, which seemed as though endowed with magical properties, was passed from hand to hand ; but soon the light acting on the silhouette till then white, blackened it like the ground, and the profile disappeared little by little as though blotted out with ink.

Professor Charles also reproduced, roughly, it is true, some engravings which he placed on a sensitised paper. The details of this experiment are, however, for the most part wanting in the historical documents relating to his works.

Wedgwood, a clever English scientist, made a similar experiment to Professor Charles' ; he projected the image

' Our illustration of this curious experiment of the celebrated chemist is based on the rather vague and incomplete accounts which were given of it at the time of its exhibition by Professor Charles. We suppose in our engraving that the experiment is just commencing ; the silhouette of the person is in black ; a few moments later, the part of the paper represented as white will become black, aijd, when the person retires, it is his shadow seen in black, which appears in white because the light could not affect this part of the silvered paper.

THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

of the dark room on to a sheet of paper similarly sensitised, and obtained a rough picture, which could only be preserved in the dark. In 1802 Wedgwood and Sir Humphry Davy published a remarkable treatise on the reproduction of objects by light.'

James Watt, the celebrated inventor of the steam engine, also studied this singular phenomenon ; and the problem of fixing the image of the camera occupied his great mind for some time ; but the results he obtained were doubtless insignificant, for he does not refer to them at all in his writings. It was much the same with the great English chemist, Humphry Davy, who has

left us a few lines on the subject of Wedgwood's experiment.

' All that is wanting,' said he, * is a means of preventing the lights of the picture from being afterwards coloured by daylight ; if this result is arrived at, the process would become as useful as it is simple. Up to the present time it is necessary to keep the copy of the picture in the dark, and it can only be examined in the shade, and then but for a short time. I have tried in

■ This method was also employed to delineate profiles, or shadows of figures, the woody fibres of leaves, wings of insects, &c. Chloride of silver in a wet state was found to be more susceptible to the influence of light than nitrate of silver. Pictures produced at this time could not l-e fixed. — Ed.

THE ORIGIN OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

vain every possible method of preventing the uncoloured parts from being affected by the Hght. As for the images of the dark room, they were doubtless not sufficiently illuminated to enable me to obtain a visible picture with the nitrate of silver. It is that, nevertheless, which is the great point of interest in these experiments. But all attempts have been fruitless.'

The problem which Davy thus clearly describes, and which neither Charles, Wedgwood, Watt, nor himself could solve, was destined to be overcome by two Frenchmen, whose names ought to be reckoned amongst the glories of the national genius.

H

Chapter II. Daguerre

DEGOTTI THE SCENE-PAINTER — EARLY LIFE OF DAGUERRE— INVEN- TION OF THE DIORAMA — THE CAMERA OR DARK ROOM — CHEVALIER THE OPTICIAN — THE HISTORY OF AN UNKNOWN — FIRST LETTER OF DAGUERRE TO NIEPCE.

At the commencement of the present century there was at Paris a scene-painter of the name of Degotti, who painted the finest scenes of the Grand Opera. At his celebrated studio this master produced truly wonderful pictures. He taught numerous pupils who by their natural disposition were drawn more towards independence of colour and freedom of pencil than towards the school of the Academy. One of the followers of Degotti soon signalised himself by his rare talents ; he attacked the canvas with the ardour of an artist thoroughly imbued with the grand effects of painting. The . name of this promising debutant was Daguerre.

Daguerre was born in 1787 at Cormeilles near Paris.

DAGUERRE.

1=;

In the midst of the political paroxysms and cataclysms of the great Revolution his childhood was singularly neglected. Arrived at a suitable age, his parents allowed him to make his own choice of a profession. The youthful Daguerre gladly chose the career of an artist. From his tenderest childhood, as soon, indeed, as he could hold it between his fingers, he had exhibited a wonderful facility with the pencil. He excelled in rendering with fidelity the most difficult effects of the boldest perspective, he studied especially scenic effect, and he thus soon found himself at home in Degotti's studio, where he was not long in equalling and then excelling the talent of his master.

Not- only was young Daguerre a genius at landscape scene-painting, the specialite of scene-painters, but he could readily solve the mechanical problems relating to the mysteries ' behind the scenes.' such as fixing, shifting, &c. He substituted for the movable frames of the side scenes large canvas backgrounds on which a whole vast landscape or an entire panorama could be represented. But not content with producing a masterly picture, he conceived the idea of giving it a value until then unknown, by having recourse to the untried resources of powerful illumination. His first attempts met with unexpected success. The unknown artist of yesterday had become the pet of the Parisian populace.

i6

THE HISTORY OF THOTOGRAPHY.

At the Opera, at the Ambigu Comique, in ' The Dream,' in ' The Wonderful Lamp,' in ' The Vampire,' the scenes of the new painter had an immense success every night. The papers and theatrical journals spoke of nothing but the effects of the rising moon and the setting sun ; and the name of Daguerre flew from mouth to mouth, carried by the cc/ai so resounding in Paris, especially when it celebrates anything which affects the pleasures of the public.