DAGUERRE LOUIS: (1787-1851) French photographer and artist, inventor of the daguerreotype process of photography. A rare A.L.S., Daguerre, one page, 8vo, Paris, 11th February 1828, to a Count, on the printed stationery of the Diorama, in French. Daguerre sends his correspondent a letter confirming the details which he had provided previously and comments 'De votre reponse dependra le succes etant dans l'intention de la presenter a S.A.R. Madame la Dauphine' (Translation: 'Your answer will depend on the success, with the intention of presenting it to H.R.H. Madame la Dauphine'). With blank integral leaf, some light age toning and a few small holes to the lower edge, not affecting the text or signature. About VG
Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mandé Historique et description des procédés du daguerréotype et du diorama. Paris: Susse Frères, 1839 8vo (192 x 125 mm). Half-title, 6 lithographic plates, ads present at end; some foxing, minor flaws and restoration. Contemporary marbled paper-covered boards; extremities rubbed with some chipping to spine, upper joint weak but holding. Half morocco case, spine gilt-lettered. First edition, the rare first issue of Daguerre's History and Description of the Daguerreotype Process, representing the greatest advance in graphic arts since the invention of printing. “Nowadays photography is so completely taken for granted that it is difficult for us to realize how startling the idea seemed to Daguerre’s contemporaries that Nature could be made to produce a spontaneous picture unaided by an artist” (Gernsheim). Daguerre, a set designer and creator of the famous Diorama—a picture show based on lighting effects (see lot 1007)—had spent years working with Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce to develop a viable photographic process. It was only after as Niépce died in 1833, however, that Daguerre accidentally discovered a method to produce the first successful permanent photographic image. On 7 January 1839, Daguerre’s friend François Arago made a brief announcement of Daguerre’s process in the Chamber of Deputies. It was quickly determined that Daguerre and Niépce's heirs should be granted a pension for life and that the invention should fall into the public domain. Arago made a more detailed report to a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Academy of Sciences on 19 August, and the first public demonstration occurred on 7 September. Early in September 1839, Daguerre’s Manual, as it is usually called, appeared. The work contains a discussion of the genesis of photography, a full illustrated account of Daguerre’s process, and related documents. The bibliography of this book is complex. The first edition was issued with four different imprints (Susse Frères, Giroux, Molteni, and Lerebours), and these editions were identical with the exception of the imprints and the varying advertising inserts. Dozens of editions quickly followed in French, English, German, Swedish, and Spanish before the year ended (please find further information regarding the bibliography below). It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the invention of Daguerre’s eponymous process of photography. Now regarded as one of the fathers of photography, his process was the first to be publicly available, and its possibilities were instantly fascinating, capturing the imagination of some of the greatest minds of the epoch (see lots 1011, 1023, 1027, 1033, 1040, and 1042). Charles Darwin, for example, was a great photography enthusiast. This is certainly evidenced through his Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, in which he collaborated with Oscar Gustave Rejlander, and can also be seen through his many portraits (see lots 1032, 1015, 1018, 1030, and 1035). Indeed, Darwin’s first experience with the photographic process occurred in 1842, just three years after the announcement of Daguerre’s invention. The daguerreotype—depicting a young Darwin holding his son William—is remarkable in that it's the only daguerreotype Darwin is known to have had taken in his lifetime. It was also not intended for circulation, or scientific scrutiny. Instead, the image held pride of place on the Darwin family mantle. "Perhaps no other invention ever captured the imagination of the public to such a degree and conquered the world with such lightening rapidity as the daguerreotype" (Gernsheim). Bibliography: The Giroux edition has been long mistaken as the first. In the Bibliography of Daguerre’s Instruction Manuals, Beaumont Newhall assigned priority to the Giroux printing, of which only two institutional copies are known, stating “published on or about 20 August” (Gernsheim 198-205). This assertion appears to be based solely on the fact that Daguerre arranged for Giroux, who was a relative of Madame Daguerre, to market his apparatus and Manual on an advertisement that appeared on the back page of the Gazette de France of 20 August 1839. But the legal literature of a case involving an engraver and printer named Giraldon helps to clarify priority. Giraldon sued Giroux for illegally reprinting the Manual, and reveals that Daguerre had contracted with Giraldon to publish his work. As no copies are known with a Giraldon imprint, it is evident that he printed the manual for several merchants, “Messrs. Giroux, Susse, and Lerebours,” varying only the imprints and the inserted advertising material. Giroux testified in his deposition that “It was agreed with Mr. Giraldon that he would deliver to me the first 300 copies, bearing my imprint. This undertaking was not fulfilled, and I therefore was no long bound to Mr. Giraldon. I reprinted the brochure, which everyone had the right to do ...” [italics added]. Daguerre scholar Pierre Harmant notes: “If one is to believe the Bibliographie de la France, only Susse Frères should be considered the original publishers of the Manual. The Bibliographie was the house organ of the Librairie Française. Each week it appeared with a list of works published in France during the week before. On 14th September, it listed Daguerre’s Manual for the first time (No. 4456), and the publisher’s name given there is Susse Frères.” After surveying notices of daguerreotypy at the other opticians in September, Harmant observes that no buyers or journalists mention it in August and writes, “we may safely conclude that the Manual was not available during August.” On 8 September, Isidore Niépce, the son of Daguerre’s late partner, wrote to his mother that “Daguerre has just published a brochure” on the process. In the letter, Niépce noted that “some days ago” he had quarreled with Daguerre concerning his father’s role in the invention. Niépce wrote that he thought they had parted amicably but “now the brochure ... has just appeared. It gives me a proof of his knavery.” This 8 September letter additionally suggests that Newhall’s 20 August date for the Giroux issue is in error. More significantly, Daguerre himself confirms Niépce's comment that the brochure had “just appeared” by 8 September. Daguerre in fact testified in the Giraldon lawsuit: “On the day of my first meeting on the Quai d’Orsay [his first public demonstration of his process, September 7], I was astonished to see my brochure in everyone’s hands, while I myself did not have a copy. These copies bore the address of Mr. Susse, who was to have been supplied only after Mr. Alphonse Giroux” [italics added]. Given the family ties between Daguerre and Giroux, it is difficult to imagine that Giroux would have neglected to give the photographer a copy of the Manual had it been ready. As such, the present evidence clearly indicates that the Giroux Manuals were not immediately available, and further that the earliest copies issued in fact bore the Susse Frères imprint. REFERENCE: Gernsheim, L. J. M. Daguerre: The History of the Diorama and the Daguerreotype; Harmant, Pierre, “Daguerre’s Manual: A Bibliographical Enigma,” Journal of the History of Photography, I: 79-83; Norman 569; PMM 318b Bid on Sotheby's
Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mandé A group of ink and wash drawings, signed by Daguerre. [Paris], 1822 Single leaf (508 x 355.5 mm). Recto with four drawings of Jewish subjects, each captioned, verso with twenty drawings of musical instruments, each captioned, signed by Daguerre ("Dessiné le 12 Novembre 1822 LJM Daguerre"); minor soiling and foxing, relatively short closed tears repaired. Handsomely matted, glazed, and framed. Original drawings by L.J.M. Daguerre, the inventor of photography. The recto features a series of four line drawings of Jewish subjects, as follows: "Juif tenant le Mezuzoth" (Jew holding a mezuzah); "Juif en habit de priereur" (Jew in prayer dress); "Ancien tombeau de Rachel, selon J. Nicolai" (Former Tomb of Rachel, according to J. Nicolai); "Tombeau de Rachel tel qu'on le voit a present selon Mr. Le Brun et autres voyageurs" (Tomb of Rachel as one sees it today according to Mr. Le Brun and other travelers)." The verso contains twenty drawings by Daguerre of musical instruments, each captioned in manuscript. Daguerre (1787-1851) began his professional artistic career as an artist and set designer, working at the Paris Opera. In 1822 he opened the Diorama next to his Paris studio, which presented a picture show with enormous paintings and lighting effects for a standing audience of 350 members. Daguerre accomplished these drawings in the year he opened the Diorama. In that same year Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the world’s first heliograph, the first permanent photograph from nature. Daguerre soon formed a partnership with Niépce to perfect a photographic process, the research of which ultimately yielded the daguerreotype, though only after Niépce had died. In 1839 the French government granted Daguerre and Niépce’s son a pension in exchange for the rights, making the process available as a gift from France, “free to the world" (see lot 1009). Daguerre’s fine drawings are very scarce. Bid on Sotheby's
DAGUERRE, LOUIS JACQUES MANDÉ. 1787-1851. Historique et description des procédés du daguerréotype et du diorama. Nouvelle edition, corrigée, et augmentée du portrait de l'auteur. Paris: Alphonse Giroux et Cie, 1839. 8vo (211 x 130 mm). Half-title, engraved portrait, 6 engraved plates. 19th-century morocco-backed patterned paper boards. FIRST COMPLETE EDITION (SECOND EDITION) OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORKS IN THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY, also called first edition, eighth issue, the first with the portrait of Daguerre. Printing and the Mind of Man 318b. Hoblit/Grolier No. 21a (4th issue). Norman 569. For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
DAGUERRE Louis-Jacques-Mandé (1787 - 1851) L.A.S., «Daguerre» Paris 4 février 1828, à un comte ; 1 page in-8 à en-tête du Diorama. Il lui envoie une lettre avec les détails : «De votre réponse dépendera le succès étant dans l'intention de la présenter à S.A.R. Madame la Dauphine»... [Madame Royale, duchesse d'Angoulême. Daguerre a rencontré Niepce et ils vont bientôt s'associer pour améliorer et com¬mercialiser son invention]. On joint une photographie de Daguerre par Mayer & Pierson (format carte de visite).
DAGUERRE, Louis Jacques Mand (1787-1851). Historique et description des procédés du daguerrotype et du diorama. Paris: Bèthune and Plon for Lerebours and Susse frères, 1839. First edition, 7th issue, of Daguerre's exposition of his photographic process. Daguerre began experimenting in the 1820s with fixing the images of the camera obscura on silver chloride paper but turned his attention to the heliographic method invented by Nicphore Niépce, whose first successful photographic image was produced in 1826 or 1827 on a pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judea dissolved in oil of lavender. In 1829 Daguerre persuaded Niépce to become his partner, but it was after Niépce’s death that Daguerre accidentally discovered a quicker method of exposing and developing the Niépcian image through the application of mercury vapor. Using this method, with common table salt as the fixative, he produced his first successful permanent photographic image in 1837. He was able to buy Niépce’s son Isidore out of the partnership, thus allowing Daguerre to name the invention after himself alone. News of the development was electric: ‘perhaps no other invention ever captured the imagination of the public to such a degree and conquered the world with such lightening rapidity as the daguerreotype’ (Gernsheim, p. 71). Along with the official documents relating to the government's review of the procedure, Daguerre's manual includes details of its genesis, a transcription of Niépce 's own description of his heliographic process, and a full illustrated description of the daguerreotype process. The work, published by order of the government, was quickly sold out. A total of 39 reprints, new editions, and translations appeared in the following 18 months. The great demand accounts for the profusion of issues of the first edition: 7 are recorded, all from the same basic setting of type, differing only in the title-page and advertising leaves. The Braune copy is of the 7th issue, but with plates from the 6th issue with the publisher's imprint, with 4 leaves of ‘Observations’ etc. and 5 advert. leaves, including a final leaf of a catalogue of sculptures. All issues of the first edition are rare. Dibner, Heralds, 183; En français dans le texte 255; Gernsheim, The history of photography, chapter 6; Grolier/Horblit 21a; PMM 318b. Octavo (211 x 135mm). Lithographic portrait frontispiece and 6 plates, half-title (some spotting). Original printed yellow wrappers (somewhat soiled, some loss of wrapper at spine); modern cloth case.
Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre Cormeilles-en-Parisis, 1787 - Bry-sur-Marne, 1851 Effet de lumière sur une vallée surmontée d'un édifice gothique Huile sur toile (Toile d'origine) Signée 'Daguerre' en bas à droite A view of a valley with a Gothic house, oil on canvas, signed, by L. Daguerre h: 19,50 w: 27,50 cm Commentaire : D'avantage connu comme animateur du diorama et inventeur du daguerréotype, Louis Daguerre eut également une honorable carrière de peintre et de dessinateur qui permet de comprendre la genèse de la photographie par son traitement particulièrement audacieux et moderne de la lumière. Souhaitant dans un premier temps s'initier au métier de scénographe, il intègre en 1804 l'atelier d'Ignazio Degotti, chef décorateur à l'Opéra. Dessinateur de vues pour l'ouvrage du baron Taylor et de Charles Nodier 'Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l'ancienne France', il se spécialise dans les peintures architecturales de ruines gothiques qui étaient souvent en rapport avec les motifs de ses décors de théâtre. Si l'artiste se révèle dans la représentation d'architectures gothiques à la mode dans le mouvement romantique du début du XIXe siècle, il nous offre dans cette petite toile une vision particulièrement poétique et sensible du jour qui se lève dans une vallée. La lumière de l'aube, fraîche et rosée y caresse les motifs avec une délicatesse enchanteresse. Estimation 5 000 - 7 000 €
Louis Daguerre Cormeilles-en-Parisis, 1787 - Bry-sur-Marne, 1851 Dessin-fumée: effet de lumière dans une architecture gothique Plume et encre brune, lavis brun, grattage annoté ''dessin à la fumée'' sur le montage Light in a gothic architecture, pen and brown ink, brown wash, by L. Daguerre h: 6,50 w: 5 cm Provenance : Collection Hocédé, Rouen, son cachet (L.2006) dans le bas du montage ; Sa vente, Rouen, 12 novembre 1859 Commentaire : D''avantage connu comme animateur du Diorama et inventeur du daguerréotype, Louis Daguerre eut également une honorable carrière de peintre et de dessinateur. Souhaitant dans un premier temps s''initier au métier de scénographe, il intègre en 1804 l''atelier d''Ignazio Degotti, chef décorateur à l''Opéra. Dessinateur de vues pour l''ouvrage du Baron Taylor et de Charles Nodier : Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l''ancienne France, il se spécialise dans les peintures architecturales de ruines gothiques qui étaient souvent en rapport avec les motifs de ses décors de théâtre. La petite feuille de veine romantique que nous présentons est un rare dessin-fumée de Daguerre, figurant les vestiges d''une architecture gothique, saisis en de puissants clairs-obscurs. Bien que le procédé exact reste flou, les dessins-fumée aujourd''hui répertoriés semblent embrasser une variété de techniques, pour lesquelles Daguerre emploie à la fois de la suie, un composé traditionnel pour les épreuves à l''encre, et de la fumée de bougie utilisée par les graveurs pour " fumer " les plaques afin de mieux voir l''image[1]. Une fois achevés, les dessins-fumée devaient être protégés par du verre (tout comme les daguerréotypes par la suite) mais la suie étant un produit chimique indélébile, l''effet lumineux voulu était " fixé ". 1. Nous renvoyons à la récente étude réalisée sur ce sujet par Stephen C. Pinson, " Daguerre, expérimentateur du visuel ", Études photographiques, 13 juillet 2003.
LOUIS JACQUES MANDÉ DAGUERRE [1787 - 1851] Inventor of the Diorama & the Daguerreotype Images, Books, Journals, Ephemera DAGUERRE, DESIGNER OF SCENERY FOR THE STAGE:- a small quarto volume, [1817/18] in original binding, with the text of two plays: 'Le Passage de la Mer Rouge' at Paris's Théâtre de la Gaîté in Nov., 1817 and , is 'Les Machabées', at the Théâtre de l'Abigu-Comique, premiered on 23 Sept.,1817, featuring: 'Décorations de M. Daguerre' on the title page. * Notes Gernsheim lists this: 'L.J.M. Daguerre, The History of the Diorama and the Daguerreotype' as the second of thirteen melodramas designed by Daguerre for the Ambigu between 1817 and 1822. Newspaper reviews are pasted-in after each of the texts, the latter one heaping praise on Daguerre's work: ' un coup-d'il vraiment céleste. Ce travail fait le plus grand honeur à M. Daguère [sic] , jeune peintre.' A further critic gives the designs rave reviews and congratulates the management on having 'le jeune peintre' M. Daynerre (sic) under contract.
DAGUERRE, LOUIS JACQUES (1787-1851) Excursions Daguerriennes; Vue & Monuments les plus remarquables du Globeoblong folio, Paris (Lerebours) 1841 [270 x 365mm]with twenty etched views after photographs, French texts by various people, original binding in embossed linen, title in gilt on upper cover, decorated spine.An early attempt to utilise photography, if indirectly, to illustrate a book, further plates were issued later.
A Fine Collection Of Victorian Daguerreotypes. 3 in total. The invention of the Daguerreotype. The Earliest photographic process in 1839. Brought portraiture to the masses. Invented by Louis Mande Daguerre 1787-1851. Two with fitted Bakelite cases and one with pressed leather fitted case. All with ornate fitted frames and interiors. The largest and most fine is 4x3.75'' in size. The Bakelite case Daguerreotypes are in excellent condition. The pressed leather cased daguerreotype is slightly rubbed to edges.
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre 1787 - 1851 Exposición histórica y descripción de los procedimientos del daguerrotipo y del diorama, traducida por Joaquim Hysern y Molleras, Imprenta de Ignacio Boix, Madrid, 1839 119 páginas, faltan las láminas, encuadernación moderna Uno de los tres primeros libros publicados sobre fotografía en España. La fotografía suscitó un gran interés en la sociedad española, fue uno de los primeros países en el que se realizaron fotografías y en el que se efectuaron más traducciones y publicaciones entorno a la fotografía, fechadas en 1839 año en que se presentó públicamente este nuevo invento.
Louis-Jacques Mandé Daguerre (1788-1851) Souterrain / Exécuté pour le Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique en 1817. 1817. Lithographie. Des presses de Ch. Motte. 167 x 130. Beraldi 3 ; I.F.F. 1. Belle épreuve, les marges teintées par une pierre de teinte bistre. Toutes marges. Rare. Daguerre commença sa carrière en travaillant à l'Opéra de Paris à partir de 1808. Il y peignit des décors, notamment avec Ciceri. En 1812, sur la recommandation de Jean-Baptiste Isabey, chef de l'atelier de l'Opéra, il en devint l'un des quatre peintres principaux. En 1816, il fut nommé décorateur en chef du théâtre de l'Ambigu Comique. Il n'y a rien d'étonnant à ce qu'il se vît offrir la possibilité de rendre par la lithographie (alors encore à ses débuts) l'image de ses décors.
DAGUERRE, Louis-Jacques Mand (1787-1851). Historique et description des procédés du daguerréotype et du diorama. Paris: Béthune and Plon for Susse frères and Delloye. 1839. 8υo (211 x 132 mm). Half-title, 2 advertisement leaves at end, and 6 engraved plates (some very minor foxing). Early 20th-century half morocco, spine gilt lettered, ORIGINAL PRINTED YELLOW WRAPPERS bound in (small restoration to lower right corners of wrappers, one short tear to upper wrapper.) "PERHAPS NO OTHER INVENTION EVER CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION OF THE PUBLIC TO SUCH A DEGREE AND CONQUERED THE WORLD WITH SUCH LIGHTENING RAPIDITY AS THE DAGUERREOTYPE" (Gernsheim) FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, second imprint of Daguerre's exposition of his photographic process. "THE BEGINNINGS OF PHOTOGRAPHY" (Horblit). "At a joint meeting of the French Academies of Arts and Sciences, Count François Arago announced the miraculous invention of Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, a method for making faithful impressions of objects on sheets of copper, coated with light-sensitive silver salts. Arago's announcement trumped the efforts of Talbot, much to the Englishman's chagrin" (Parr-Badger vol.I, p. 13). A VERY ATTRACTIVE COPY OF THIS GREAT RARITY. Dibner Heralds of Science 183; En français dans le text 255; Gernheim The History of Photography, chapter 6; Horblit/Grolier 21a (reproducing the 4th issue); Norman 569 (same issue); PMM 318b. Daguerre, a gifted set designer and creator of the famous Diorama, a picture show based on lighting effects, began experimenting in the 1820s with fixing the images of the camera obscura on silver chloride paper. His continued lack of success using this method stimulated his interest in the heliographic method invented by Nicéphore Nièpce, who had produced the first successful photographic image in 1826 or 1827 on a pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judea dissolved in oil of lavender, and in 1829 Daguerre succeeded in persuading the reluctant Nièpce to become his partner. It was only after Nièpce's death, however, in the spring of 1835, that Daguerre accidentally discovered a quicker method of exposing and developing the Niècian image through the application of mercury vapor. Using this method, with common table salt as the fixative, he produced his first successful permanent photographic image in 1837. Still under contract with Nièpce's son Isidore, Daguerre agreed to split the profits from the new invention in exchange for calling it by his name alone. He then proceeded to launch a publicity campaign with the goal of attracting 400 subscribers at 1,000 francs each, stipulating that the processes of heliography and "daguerrotype" would not be revealed until 100 subscribers were enrolled. This failed, and the resourceful Daguerre turned to other methods, privately approaching a number of leading scientists with the goal of interesting the government. "He was fortunate in finding in François Dominique Arago an influential ally, for he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies as well as a distinguished physicist and astronomer. Soon afterwards, Arago gave the discovery official status by a brief announcement at the Académie des Sciences, on 7 January 1839" (Gernsheim, p. 68). Arago energetically promoted the invention and succeeded in obtaining government funding for the two partners, although in the course of his arguments he gradually shifted credit for the invention to Daguerre, at the expense of Nièpce's pioneering work. By the summer, Daguerre was finally obliged to divulge the details of "his" process (though not before Fox Talbot, in reaction to the news of Daguerre' invention, had published his own announcement of his independent invention of a photographic process). On August 19 Arago made a full announcement to a packed house at a joint meeting of the Académies des Sciences and des Beaux-Arts at the Institut de France. The excitement was palpable. "Perhaps no other invention ever captured the imagination of the public to such a degree and conquered the world with such lightening rapidity as the daguerreotype" (op. cit., p. 71). Daguerre's manual, published by order of the government, was quickly sold out. A total of 39 reprints, new editions, and translations appeared in the following 18 months. The great demand accounts for the profusion of issues of the first edition: 7 are recorded, all from the same basic setting of type. Of these the first four differ in the booksellers' names alone. The present copy is of the first Susse issue, the second to appear, preceded only by the Alphonse Giroux issue, published shortly after Arago's 19 August announcement, of which only three copies are known. Along with the official documents relating to the government's review of the procedure, Daguerre's manual includes details of its genesis, including a transcription of Nièpce's own description of his heliographic process, submitted to Daguerre in 1839, and a full illustrated description of his daguerreotype process -- presented as an independent invention, superior to Nièpce's. Isidore Nièpce, justifiably disgusted at the deliberate obscuring of his father's prior claim to the invention, finally published a full account of the heliographic process in 1841 (Histoire de la découverte improprement nommée daguerreotype) in an attempt to rectify the misrepresentation, but by then it was too late, and in the public imagination Daguerre competed only with Fox Talbot for the title of inventor of photography. Ironically, only Nièpce's original heliographic method was susceptible of improvement (see Gernsheim, p. 63), whilst Daguerre's, although capable of producing beautiful and clear images, was a dead end, mainly because its mirror-like solid-metal plates could not be used as negatives to print copies, making each picture unique. SA VERY ATTRACTIVE COPY OF THIS GREAT RARITY. Dibner Heralds of Science, 183; En français dans le texte 255; Gernsheim The History of Photography, chapter 6; Horblit/Grolier 21a (reproducing the 4th issue); Norman 569 (same issue); PMM 318b.
HISTORIQUE ET DESCRIPTION DES PROCÉDÉS DU DAGUERRÉOTYPE ET DU DIORAMA. NOUVELLE ÉDITION, CORRIGÉE, ET AUGMENTÉE DU PORTRAIT DE L'AUTEUR. PARIS, ALPHONSE GIROUX ET CIE, 1839. seconde édition. In-8 (221 x 135 mm), portrait de l'auteur, (2) ff. 76 pp. et 6 planches hors texte, broché, couverture muette ; boîte, pièce de titre au dos. A toutes marges. Quelques rousseurs aux titre et portrait.
DAGUERRE Louis (1787-1851) Plusieurs ouvrages sur Daguerre, dont : L.J.M. Daguerre. The History of the Diorama and the Daguerreotype, The Birth of Photography, Daguerreotypie in Deutschland. Vom Charme de frühen Fotografie.
Autograph Letter Signed ("Daguerre J."), 1 p, 4to (integral address leaf), Paris, November 27, 1825, to Guilbert de Pixerécourt, Diorama letterhead, address leaf torn, light spotting. Magniloquent letter to Guilbert de Pixerécourt [1773-1844], playwright and Director of the Opera Comique in Paris. Guilbert de Pixerécourt had assisted Daguerre in promoting the "Diorama" and Daguerre offers him and his friends free admission. The Diorama theater was opened in 1822 by Daguerre in Paris to entertain the population by showing an animated landscape. See illustration.
DAGUERRE, Louis-Jacques Mandé (1787-1851). Historique et description des procédés du daguerréotype et du diorama. Paris: Béthune and Plon for Susse frères and Delloye. 1839. 8o (211 x 133 mm). Half-title, 2 advertisement leaves on cream paper at end, and 6 engraved plates (some minor foxing). Original printed yellow wrappers (small restoration to front cover); folding case. "PERHAPS NO OTHER INVENTION EVER CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION OF THE PUBLIC TO SUCH A DEGREE AND CONQUERED THE WORLD WITH SUCH LIGHTENING RAPIDITY AS THE DAGUERREOTYPE" (Gernsheim) FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, second imprint of Daguerre's exposition of his photographic process. "THE BEGINNINGS OF PHOTOGRAPHY" (Horblit). "At a joint meeting of the French Academies of Arts and Sciences, Count François Arago announced the miraculous invention of Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, a method for making faithful impressions of objects on sheets of copper, coated with light-sensitive silver salts. Arago's announcement trumped the efforts of Talbot, much to the Englishman's chagrin" (Parr-Badger vol.I, p. 13). Daguerre, a gifted set designer and creator of the famous Diorama, a picture show based on lighting effects, began experimenting in the 1820s with fixing the images of the camera obscura on silver chloride paper. His continued lack of success using this method stimulated his interest in the heliographic method invented by Nicéphore Nièpce, who had produced the first successful photographic image in 1826 or 1827 on a pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judea dissolved in oil of lavender, and in 1829 Daguerre succeeded in persuading the reluctant Nièpce to become his partner. It was only after Nièpce's death, however, in the spring of 1835, that Daguerre accidentally discovered a quicker method of exposing and developing the Niècian image through the application of mercury vapor. Using this method, with common table salt as the fixative, he produced his first successful permanent photographic image in 1837. Still under contract with Nièpce's son Isidore, Daguerre agreed to split the profits from the new invention in exchange for calling it by his name alone. He then proceeded to launch a publicity campaign with the goal of attracting 400 subscribers at 1,000 francs each, stipulating that the processes of heliography and "daguerrotype" would not be revealed until 100 subscribers were enrolled. This failed, and the resourceful Daguerre turned to other methods, privately approaching a number of leading scientists with the goal of interesting the government. "He was fortunate in finding in François Dominique Arago an influential ally, for he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies as well as a distinguished physicist and astronomer. Soon afterwards, Arago gave the discovery official status by a brief announcement at the Acadmie des Sciences, on 7 January 1839" (Gernsheim, p. 68). Arago energetically promoted the invention and succeeded in obtaining government funding for the two partners, although in the course of his arguments he gradually shifted credit for the invention to Daguerre, at the expense of Nièpce's pioneering work. By the summer, Daguerre was finally obliged to divulge the details of "his" process (though not before Fox Talbot, in reaction to the news of Daguerre' invention, had published his own announcement of his independent invention of a photographic process). On August 19 Arago made a full announcement to a packed house at a joint meeting of the Académies des Sciences and des Beaux-Arts at the Institut de France. The excitement was palpable. "Perhaps no other invention ever captured the imagination of the public to such a degree and conquered the world with such lightening rapidity as the daguerreotype" (op. cit., p. 71). Daguerre's manual, published by order of the government, was quickly sold out. A total of 39 reprints, new editions, and translations appeared in the following 18 months. The great demand accounts for the profusion of issues of the first edition: 7 are recorded, all from the same basic setting of type. Of these the first four differ in the booksellers' names alone. The present copy is of the first Susse issue, the second to appear, preceded only by the Alphonse Giroux issue, published shortly after Arago's 19 August announcement, of which only three copies are known. Along with the official documents relating to the government's review of the procedure, Daguerre's manual includes details of its genesis, including a transcription of Nièpce's own description of his heliographic process, submitted to Daguerre in 1839, and a full illustrated description of his daguerreotype process -- presented as an independent invention, superior to Nièpce's. Isidore Nièpce, justifiably disgusted at the deliberate obscuring of his father's prior claim to the invention, finally published a full account of the heliographic process in 1841 (Histoire de la découverte improprement nommée daguerrotype) in an attempt to rectify the misrepresentation, but by then it was too late, and in the public imagination Daguerre competed only with Fox Talbot for the title of inventor of photography. Ironically, only Nièpce's original heliographic method was susceptible of improvement (cf. Gernsheim, p. 63), whilst Daguerre's, although capable of producing beautiful and clear images, was a dead end, mainly because its mirror-like solid-metal plates could not be used as negatives to print copies, making each picture unique. A VERY ATTRACTIVE COPY IN ITS ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPPERS OF THIS GRAT RARITY. Dibner Heralds of Science, 183; En français dans le texte 255; Gernsheim The History of Photography, chapter 6; Horblit/Grolier 21a (reproducing the 4th issue); Norman 569 (same issue); PMM 318b.
Historique et description des procédés du daguerréotype et du diorama. Paris: Béthune and Plon for Lerebours and Susse frères. 1839. 8° (200 x 120mm). Half-title, 2 advertisement leaves on cream paper at end, and 6 full page engravings. (A very few light scattered spots on a very few leaves.) Later quarter leather, smooth spine gilt lettered. FIRST EDITION of Daguerre's exposition of his photographic process. 'THE BEGINNINGS OF PHOTOGRAPHY' (Horblit). 'PERHAPS NO OTHER INVENTION EVER CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION OF THE PUBLIC TO SUCH A DEGREE AND CONQUERED THE WORLD WITH SUCH LIGHTENING RAPIDITY AS THE DAGUERREOTYPE' (Gernsheim, p. 71). Daguerre's manual, published by order of the government, was quickly sold out. A total of 39 reprints, new editions, and translations appeared in the following 18 months. The great demand accounts for the profusion of issues of the first edition: 7 are recorded, all from the same basic setting of type. Of these the first four differ in the booksellers' names alone. The present copy is from the fourth issue; only three copies of the first issue are known. RARE. Dibner, Heralds of Science, 183; En français dans le texte 255; Gernsheim The history of photography, chapter 6; Horblit/Grolier 21a (reproducing this issue); Norman 569; Printing and the Mind of Man 318b.
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF BRADFORD K. BACHRACH LOUIS JACQUES MANDÉ DAGUERRE 1787-1851 SELECTED DAGUERRE MANUALS A group of 3 early Daguerre manuals, comprising Historique et Description des Procédés du Daguerréotype et du Diorama, par Daguerre... Nouvelle Edition (Paris: Alphonse Giroux et Cie, 1839), illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Daguerre and 5 plates; Description of the Daguerreotype Process, or A Summary of M. Gouraud's Public Lectures, According to the Principles of M. Daguerre (Boston: Dutton and Wentworth's Print., 1840); and Description de Nouveaux Daguerréotypes Perfectionnés et Portatifs, avec L'Instruction de M. Daguerre, Annotée... Par Buron (Paris: Imprimerie de Mme Ve Donday-Dupré, 1841), illustrated with a folding plate. 8vo, original wrappers, the second and third volumes loosely sewed together and in a contemporary folding cloth slipcase, the third inscribed 'S. A. Bemis' in pencil on the front wrapper and 'Dr. S. A. Bemis' in pencil on the half-title (3) CATALOGUE NOTE The manuals offered here were owned by a member of the famous Bachrach portrait studio family. The business was founded by David Bachrach, Jr. (1845 - 1921), who began his camera apprenticeship in 1860s Baltimore. The first Bachrach studio was opened in that city in 1869, and over the next decades, branches spread to a number of other cosmopolitan centers. The history of the Bachrachs, who defined an American photographic portrait style for over a century, is recounted in Douglas Collins's Photographed by Bachrach: 125 Years of American Portraiture (New York, 1992). What appears to be the ownership signature of Dr. Samuel A. Bemis is inscribed on the front wrapper and half-title of the 1841 manual. Bemis (1793 - 1881), a dentist, attended Gouraud's lectures in Boston in the spring of 1840, and produced some of the earliest daguerreotypes in America.
![LOUIS JACQUES MANDÉ DAGUERRE [1787 - 1851] Invento](https://stageimg.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Bearnes_Hampton_Littlewood/65/595465/H4025-L103798766.jpg)
![DAGUERRE, LOUIS JACQUES (1787-1851) Excursions Daguerriennes; Vue & Monuments les plus remarquables du Globeoblong folio, Paris (Lerebours) 1841 [270 x 365mm]with twenty etched views after photographs, French texts by various people, original bind](https://stageimg.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Adam-j/51/585351/H0157-L92060056.jpg)
