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Very Early Papers in Photography by Herschel, Talbot, Draper (1843)

[Herschel, J.F.W.]  Several very early papers on photography, contained in The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, edited by David Brewster, Richard Taylor, and others, London, printed by Richard and John E. Taylor, January-June 1843, volume XXII (third series); 8vo, viii, 576pp, with three plates (two folding.  Bound in half-calf, with raised bands, and red and black pine labels; the imprint of "The Society of Writers to the Signet" embossed in a 2" gilded oval on the cover.  The book is in GOOD condition, though the back cover is detached, and the front nearly so.  The text is fresh and crisp. $500

Contains the following six papers by Herschel on photography and the photographic process, as well as early papers by Draper and Talbot on other aspects of photography, with the first four in part describing Herschel's introduction of the "chrysotype" process:

“Sir J. F. W. Herschel on the Action of the Rays of the Solar  Spectrum on Vegetable Colours, and on some new Photographic Processes” (in four parts)5 -21; “Sir John F. W. Herschel on the Action of the Rays of the Solar Spectrum on Vegetable Colours, and on some new Photographic Processes (continued)” 107-115; “Sir John F. W. Herschel on the Action of the Rays of the Solar  Spectrum on Vegetable Colours, and on some new Photographic Processes (continued)”, pp 170-180; “Sir John F. W. Herschel on the Action of the Rays of the Solar  Spectrum on Vegetable Colours, and on some new Photographic Processes (concluded) “, pp 246 -252.  These papers seem to be the re-appearance of an earlier,single, long paper under the same title in the Philosophical Transactions  for 1842,  pp. 181-214. As with the Philosophical Transactions paper, this appearance has one folding engraved plate containing several images.  

Also included in the volume:
"Sir John F. W. Herschel on the Action of the Rays of the Solar Spectrum on the Daguerreotype Plate", 120 -133

And:

"Sir John FW Herschel On certain improvements on Photographic Processes described in a former Communication and on the Parathermic Rays of the Solar Spectrum" pp 508-511, in a special supplement to volume XXII

And with:

"Dr. Draper on the Tithonotype, or Art of multiplying Daguerreotypes", pp 365-368

"Mr. Talbot of the coloured Rings produced by Iodine on Silver, with Remarks on the History of Photography", pp 94 -97

And with many other interesting contributions, including: 
"Mr. G. G. Stokes " on the Analytical Condition of Rectilinear Fluid Motion," in Reply to Professor Challis", pp 55 
"Mr. J. P. Joule on the Electrical Origin of Chemical Heat. . . .", pp 204-208

The following are quotations from the "On the Action of the Rays of the Solar  Spectrum on Vegetable Colours, and on some new Photographic Processes” papers describing the photographic process being introduced by Herschel:

"In operating on the colours of flowers I have usually proceeded as follows the petals of the fresh flowers or rather such parts of them as possessed a uniform tint were crushed to a pulp in a marble mortar either alone or with addition of alcohol and the juice expressed by squeezing the pulp in a clean linen or cotton cloth. It was then spread on paper with a flat brush and dried in the air without artificial heat or at most with the gentle warmth which rises in the ascending current of air from an Arnott stove. If alcohol be not added the application on paper must be performed immediately since exposure to the air of the juices of most flowers in some cases even for but a few minutes irrecoverably changes or destroys their colour. If alcohol be present this change does not usually take place or is much retarded for which reason as well as on account of certain facilities afforded by its admixture in procuring an even tint to be presently stated this addition was commonly but not always made..."  And: "...species of action obtain almost universally. 1st The action is positive that is to say light destroys colour either totally or leaving a residual tint on which it has no further or a very much slower action. And thus is effected a sort of chromatic analysis in which two distinct elements of colour are separated by destroying the one and leaving the other outstanding. The older the paper or the tincture with which it is stained the greater is the amount of this residual tint..."

It is also worth noting the appearances of the words "positive" and "negative" in the Herschel paper "On certain improvements on Photographic Processes described in a former Communication and on the Parathermic Rays of the Solar Spectrum" (below); granted the words had appeared at least in conversation among the other Prime Movers in early photography in the 1830's, they only first appeared in printed in Herschel's paper in the Philosophical Transactions in May 1839. so we're two years past the very first appearance, though the use of those words in print even at this time was not common.

"...ground being hardly perceptibly The result was a very beautiful and perfect negative photograph..." g  p 508 

"In the positive cyanotype process as improved by the addition of corrosive sublimate above recommended we are furnished with another instance of a transformation effected by heat analogous to those described in Art 228 A picture prepared by this process if heated is transformed from positive to negative and from blue to brown. On keeping the blue colour is restored as well as the positive character..." In  p 509

And  a penultimate word from the  British Journal of Photgraphy, June 16, 1905:  

 And lastly, this from Photography: Its Principles and Applications, by Alfred Watkins  157, 1911

 

Persistence of Vision and the Coming of Cinema

Joseph Plateau, "On a New and Curious Application of the Permanence of Impressions on the Retina", in Philosophical Magazine, volume 36, January-June 1850, pp 434-436; followed immediately in a much longer paper, "Second Paper on a New and Curious Application of the Permanence of Impressions on the Retina", pp 436-452, with two plates.

Philosophical Magazine, volume 36, January-June 1850, the entire volume offered, 560pp. Bound in hlaf calf, with marbled boards, both of which are detached.  There is some solid wear to the spine, and the spine label is nearly detached. The text is quite nice, crisp, and bright.  Fair/Good copy: $250

From: An Annotated Bibliography of Flicker Fusion Phenomena...1740-1952, by Carney Landis, p. 

Plateaun (1801-1883) was the inventor of the Phenakistoscope in 1829, and contributed often (especially with considerable papers in 1835 and 1836) on the issue of persistence of vision. Here he writes of that and the flicker effect, which is the optical illusion in which individual sequential units of images are viewed as a continuous motion of images, which is a trick of the visual system and makes such this as the movies and cartoons and animated shows possible.  It is a terrible irony that this great writer on physiological optics would be blind or nearly so by the 1840's, this a result of an experiment conducted requiring him to stare at the sun for nearly half a minute.

"Plateau studied in great detail the phenomena of accidental colors and irradiation, both of which he considered as arising from a similar cause related to the persistence of the image on the retina. Accidental colors are those that appear after staring for some time at a colored object and then at a black surface, or closing one’s eyes and pressing one’s hands over them. An image of the object appears, usually in complementary color and slightly diminished in size. Plateau’s results include his discovery that accidental colors combine both with each other and with real colors according to the usual laws of color mixture. In irradiation luminous objects on a dark background appear enlarged, a factor clearly of interest to astronomers, among whom the question of the extent of the enlargement was causing controversy. Plateau showed that enlargement occurs regardless of the distance from the object and—explaining the varied experiences of the controversialists—that the mean amount of enlargement from the same source varied considerably from one individual to another."--Dictionary of Scientific Biography

Also in this volume: J. Locke, "On the Phatascope", pp 453-457, "instrument for giving single vision with two eyes" (--Living pictures; their history, photoproduction and practical working. With a digest of British patents and annotated bibliography, Henry Hopwood, 1899.)

Among the many other articles in this volume is William Fishburn Donkin's "On the Geometrical Interpretation of Quaternions", pp 489-502. (See Alexander MacFarlane's Bibliography of Quaternions..., 1904, full text here: http://ow.ly/kFRy304gfVD  Parenthetically, there is a William Rowan Hamilton paper on quaternions here as well--this is 2pp long and is one of the dozen or some submitted to this journal in the 1846/50 period. 

Notes:

• See The History of Discovery of Cinematography timeline, which is especially interesting for the pre-1850 entries http://precinemahistory.net/1850.htm

 

Very Early Announcement of the Daguerre Process in the U.S., September 1839

 JF Ptak Science Books  

"The Daguerreotype", in the National Intelligencer, Washington D.C., September 25, 1839. 20.5 x 18 inches, 4pp. The article--nearly one column long--is a compact 1000+ words or so, and is a reprint of the London Globe article of August 23. There are numerous small bumps and tears along the edges of the paper, plus a 6" tear in the bottom-left margin going through both sheets. A fair copy.  $500

See: The Daguerreotype in America, by Beaumont Newhall, lists the National Intelligencer article for September 25, 1839 as one of the earliest appearances announcing "the secret of M. Daguerre's invention, or discovery..."

And the article, in full:

 

Papers by Draper, Hamilton, Joule, and Others, 1848.

JF Ptak Science Books 

Draper, John W. "On the Production of Light by Chemical Action." (February, 1848, pp 100-114).In: London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, volume XXXII, January-June, 1848, 21x13cm, 552pp.  OFfering the entire volume, with leather-backed marbled boards. The covers are detached, and the spine cover mostly gone (except for three panels and those having the two panels of gilt stamped titles); the text overall is crisp and the binding tight. Gilt stamped oval  coat of arms of the Society of Writers to the Signet on front and rear boards. Good copy, other than the binding faults.  $350

In 1848 Draper (chemistry, medical doctor, and U.S. pioneer in photography and one of the earliest founders of astronomical photography) published a memoir on the production of light by chemical action. It was known that the combustion of different substances was accompanied by the emission of rays of different colors and many opinions had been expressed to explain the phenomenon. Draper asked what were the chemical conditions that determine these differences and if any connection could be found between the chemical nature of a substance or the conditions under which it burns and the nature of the light which it emitted. With a slit, a prism, and an observing telescope he examined the flames of a variety of substances (oil, alcohol, alcoholic solutions of boric acid and strontium nitrate, of phosphorus, of sulfur, of carbonic oxide, of hydrogen, of cyanogen, and of phosphine), and found"¹:

“notwithstanding this diversity of color, all these fames, as well has many others that I have tried, yield the same result; every prismatic color is found in them. Even in those cases where the fame is very faint, as in alcohol and in hydrogen gas, not only may red, yellow, green, blue, and violet light he traced, but even bright Fraunhofferian lines of different colors.”

“Do not the various facts here brought forward prove that chemical combinations are attended by a rapid vibratory motion of the particles of the combining bodies, which vibrations become more frequent as the chemical action is more intense?"

Ten years later Draper reviewed his 1848 paper:

--[Image from Philosophical Magazine, vol XXV, 1858, page 90.

 Also in this volume:

Augustus de Morgan's very sharp and interesting review of astronomer/cosmographer Thomas Wright's involved and dynamic (and beautiful) theories of the universe, "An Account of the Speculations of Thomas Wright of Durham", pp 241-252.

William Rowan Hamilton, "On Quaternions, or on a New System of Imaginaries in Algebra", pp 367-37, continuing a paper from the previous volume XXXI. 

J. Challis, "On the Velocity of Sound..." pp 494-499

Robert Hare, "Objections to the Theories Severally of Franklin, Dufay, and Ampere, with an Attempt to Explain Electrical Phenomena by Statical or Undulatory Polarization", pp 461-487.

Sir D Brewster "on the Decomposition and Dispersion of Light within Solid and Fluid Bodies"

George Boole "Remarks on a Paper by the Rev B. Bronwin on the Solution of a particular Differential Equation" (including the paper itself,  Rev B. Bronwin "On the Solution of a particular Differential Equation" pp 256-261)

J.P. Joule "On Shooting Stars", pp 349-351

G.G. Stokes "On the Constitution of the Ether"  pp 343-349

Robert Hunt "On the supposed Influence of Magnetism on Chemical Action", pp 252-255

M Melloni "Researches on the Radiations of Incandescent Bodies and on the Elementary Colours of the Solar Spectrum" 262-275

And numerous other articles.  

Notes:

1. "John WIlliam Draper" in ScienceDirect. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0187893X13724650

William Henry Fox Talbot and Michael Faraday,1833

JF Ptak Science Books

Michael Faraday, "Mr. Faraday's Experimental Researches in Electricity. — Third Series 161-170; Mr. Faraday's Experimental Researches in Electricity. — Third Series (continued) 253-267; Faraday's Experimental Researches in Electricity. — Third Series (concluded) 353-363" being papers found in The London, Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, London, printed by Richard Taylor, volume III, July-December 1833. The entire volume
offered: 8vo, viii, 472pp. Bound in full calf, with raised bands, and with red and black spine labels; the covers are impressed in gilt with the arms of the "Society of
Writers to the Signet".  Very nice copy. Very Good condition. $250

Also bound with:  

Faraday, Michael. “Mr. Faraday's Notice of a Means of preparing the Organs of Respiration, so as considerably to extend the Time of Holding the Breath; with Remarks on
its Application, in Cases in which it is required to enter an irrespirable Atmosphere, and on the Precautions necessary to be observed in such Cases”, 241-245;

And with:

“Mr. R. Potter's Particulars of a Series of Experiments and Calculations undertaken with a View to determine the Velocity with which Light traverses Transparent Media”,
333-342;

With these other interesting works, including four papers by/relating to William Henry Fox Talbot:

Herschel, J.F.W. “Sir John F. W. Herschel on the Absorption of Light by Coloured Media, viewed in connexion with the Undulatory Theory”, p 401-412;

William Henry Fox Talbot, “On a Method of Obtaining Homogeneous Light of Great Intensity" on p 35; 

Talbot, Henry Fox. “Mr. H. F. Talbot's Proposed Philosophical Experiments 81-3;

“T. R. F. on Mr. Talbot's Proposed Method of ascertaining the greatest Depth of the Ocean”, p. 352

Wheatstone, Charles. “Mr. C. Wheatstone's Remarks on one of Mr. Talbot's proposed Philosophical Experiments”, pp 204-5;

"Of other here is the article by one of the early and great leaders in the history of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), showing his developing interest in optics, after having already established a reputation in mathematics: “The early nineteenth century witnessed the adoption and modification of new theoretical frameworks in chemistry and optics. The discovery of many new substances stimulated increasing concern with chemical composition and structure, while the wave theory of light posed problems with dispersion, absorption, photochemical reaction, and other forms of light-matter interaction. Although Talbot counted Wheatstone, Brewster, and Babbage among his scientific friends, he most closely followed the ideas of his friend John Herschel on light. Adopting the wave theory of light and a kinetic interpretation of light, heat, and matter, he pursued the problem of light-matter interaction through the study of optics, crystallography, and spectra. Intrigued by the similar optical characteristics of light and radiant heat as demonstrated by Melloni and Forbes, he sought to show the unity of the chemical rays with visible rays and heat rays. He also sought to use light and optical properties as analytical tools in order to determine the nature and structure of matter and to develop methods of chemical identification. Utilizing the vibratory theory of molecular behavior in gases, he suggested in 1835 a connection between spectral lines and chemical composition.”--Dictionary of Scientific Biography

 

William Henry Fox Talbot, “On a Method of Obtaining Homogeneous Light of Great Intensity" on p 35; 

Talbot, Henry Fox. “Mr. H. F. Talbot's Proposed Philosophical Experiments 81-3;

“T. R. F. on Mr. Talbot's Proposed Method of ascertaining the greatest Depth of the Ocean”, p. 352

Wheatstone, Charles. “Mr. C. Wheatstone's Remarks on one of Mr. Talbot's proposed Philosophical Experiments”, pp 204-5;

"Of other here is the article by one of the early and great leaders in the history of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), showing his developing interest in optics, after having already established a reputation in mathematics: “The early nineteenth century witnessed the adoption and modification of new theoretical frameworks in chemistry and optics. The discovery of many new substances stimulated increasing concern with chemical composition and structure, while the wave theory of light posed problems with dispersion, absorption, photochemical reaction, and other forms of light-matter interaction. Although Talbot counted Wheatstone, Brewster, and Babbage among his scientific friends, he most closely followed the ideas of his friend John Herschel on light. Adopting the wave theory of light and a kinetic interpretation of light, heat, and matter, he pursued the problem of light-matter interaction through the study of optics, crystallography, and spectra. Intrigued by the similar optical characteristics of light and radiant heat as demonstrated by Melloni and Forbes, he sought to show the unity of the chemical rays with visible rays and heat rays. He also sought to use light and optical properties as analytical tools in order to determine the nature and structure of matter and to develop methods of chemical identification. Utilizing the vibratory theory of molecular behavior in gases, he suggested in 1835 a connection between spectral lines and chemical composition.”--Dictionary of Scientific Biography

 

William Henry Fox Talbot, “On a Method of Obtaining Homogeneous Light of Great Intensity" on p 35; 

Talbot, Henry Fox. “Mr. H. F. Talbot's Proposed Philosophical Experiments 81-3;

“T. R. F. on Mr. Talbot's Proposed Method of ascertaining the greatest Depth of the Ocean”, p. 352

Wheatstone, Charles. “Mr. C. Wheatstone's Remarks on one of Mr. Talbot's proposed Philosophical Experiments”, pp 204-5;

"Of other here is the article by one of the early and great leaders in the history of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), showing his developing interest in optics, after having already established a reputation in mathematics: “The early nineteenth century witnessed the adoption and modification of new theoretical frameworks in chemistry and optics. The discovery of many new substances stimulated increasing concern with chemical composition and structure, while the wave theory of light posed problems with dispersion, absorption, photochemical reaction, and other forms of light-matter interaction. Although Talbot counted Wheatstone, Brewster, and Babbage among his scientific friends, he most closely followed the ideas of his friend John Herschel on light. Adopting the wave theory of light and a kinetic interpretation of light, heat, and matter, he pursued the problem of light-matter interaction through the study of optics, crystallography, and spectra. Intrigued by the similar optical characteristics of light and radiant heat as demonstrated by Melloni and Forbes, he sought to show the unity of the chemical rays with visible rays and heat rays. He also sought to use light and optical properties as analytical tools in order to determine the nature and structure of matter and to develop methods of chemical identification. Utilizing the vibratory theory of molecular behavior in gases, he suggested in 1835 a connection between spectral lines and chemical composition.”--Dictionary of Scientific Biography

 

Curious Hand-Illuminated Victorian Photographs (ca. 1862)

JF Ptak Science Books     

I found this collection of photographs a number of years ago, mostly for the way that some of the decorated panels were not outfitted with photographs.  The photographs were made in the early 1860s (one is dated 1862) and the decorations I take it were made by hand at the same time or thereabouts.  

One of the most interesting images is this family portrait--it has one of the most elaborate manuscript "frames", and it also depicts a space ship in the background. Well, not really--but it is an interesting design for what I suspect was an (iron?) conservatory or greenhouse.  Also handling the photograph in person led me to the very minor discovery that the curled up and sleeping dog was added "photoshopped"--that is, added in later, a cutout of the dog pasted onto the print. No doubt it would have been difficult to have a dog sitting there for a long period of time with the family without moving given the relatively slow exposure time in 1862.  I find that detail, that the family though enough of the dog to paste it into the final/finished project, to be very touching.  

• Each sheet measures about 16"x 16". Good condition.  Set of 18 images, all ca. early 1860s: $1250.00

 

 

 

 

The Camera Obscura at War, 1885

"The Camera Obscura in Torpedo Work", in Nature, 26 February 1885, pp 389-340.  Offered in the original weekly issue, removed from a larger bound volume.  Very good copy.  $125

I'm pretty sure that I've never seen a camera obscura used in this way. 

Landmark Papers in the History of Photography, 1850 and 1851

Blanquart-Evrard,  Louis D. "Photographie sur papier, moyen d'obtenie l'image a la chambre noire sur papier." *With* "Photographie sur papier".  Paris: 1850 & 1851.  1st edition.  All weekly issues removed from larger bound volumes of the Comptes Rendus des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences, including:

Blanquart-Evrard, Louis-D. "Photographie sur papier, moyen d'obtenie l'image a la chambre noire sur papier" and offered with: "Photographie sur papier". Both papers in: Comptes Rendus des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences, volume 30, no 21, pp.663-665 and volume 32, no. 15, pp. 555-556.

Both are offered in their scarce original pink printed wrappers.

Helmut Gernsheim (History of Photography) notes that these publications by Blancquart-Evrard "marked the beginning of a new era of photography" by introudcing a "very considerable improvement of Talbot's calotype process". The calotype process offered very contrasty images and were lacking in half-tone sensibilities; "the paper ("wet process") apporach by Blancquart-Evrard, which provided a (paper) surface impregnated with silver nitrate (and therefore much more light-sensitive), was much more able to reveal tone and detail".  $1500.