1175
were advantages—the developed image rarely exhibited
the extended tonal range of the printed-out version.
The same was true of albumen paper, the fi rst paper
to carry the image on the paper surface, and introduced
in 1850s by Blanqart-Evrard. Although conceived as a
developed printing material—to facilitate printing on an
industrial scale—albumen was used by a large percent-
age of photographers, again amateur and professional,
as a printing-out material. It was easier to manipulate,
more predictable, and less susceptible to the vagaries of
changing chemical strengths and conditions.
Granted, developed papers were faster to use, but
only when large production runs of prints from single
negatives were being made, were such considerations
important. In the home darkroom, or small profes-
sional studio, printing was a lengthy process in any
case. Salted paper had to be made by hand by the pho-
tographer, and while albumen paper could be bought
already coated with the albumen layer and some of
the chemistry, it had to be sensitised and dried before
it could be used.
In 1866, the Frenchman Juan Laurent in collaboration
with Spaniard José Martínez-Sánchez perfected ‘Lep-
tographic’ paper (‘Leptofotografía’), a collodio-silver
chloride printing paper which was sold ready to use.
The light-sensitive silver chloride was held in a binding
layer of cellulose nitrate, separated from the paper by
a layer of barium sulphate (later known as baryta), giv-
ing a much whiter base colour to prints than had been
previously possible with albumen paper. The baryta
layer acted as a barrier, eliminating the spotting from
rusting metal particles in the paper which sometimes
happened with albumen papers, and at a stroke, the in-
troduction of this paper removed from the photographer
all the paraphernalia of having to sensitize the paper
before use, as had been needed with albumen. As the
manufacturers claimed it had three times the sensitivity
of albumen, exposure times for contact printing could
also be reduced signifi cantly. Despite such promise,
the paper was not a commercial success, and it would
be the 1880s before ready-made silver chloride papers
achieved signifi cant popularity.
In 1882, William de Wiveleslie Abney published the
procedure for making a gelatine-silver chloride paper,
but it did not immediately go into production.
One of the fi rst collodio-chloride papers to achieve
success—and very similar in chemistry to Laurent’s—
was introduced in 1884 by Paul Eduard Liesegang of
Dusseldorf, who called his paper ‘Aristotype.’ In the
following year, fellow Germans Ashmann and Offord
added gold to their emulsion, and in so doing created a
paper which self-toned in the fi xing bath, eliminating
one of the processing stages.
It has been argued that, after the introduction of com-
mercially manufactured gelatine dry plates, the com-
mercial manufacture of ready-to-use printing papers was
driven not by an increase in printing effi ciency, but the
continuation of the subtle print quality which had been
possible with albumen. Collodion and gelatine-based
printing papers, when developed, produced a neutral
image, whereas when used as printing-out papers, the
rich warm brown tones of the gold-toned albumen paper
could be imitated.
The year after Liesegang’s success, in 1885, the
Britannia Works Company in England—forerunner of
Ilford Ltd—introduced the fi rst of their gelatine-based
silver chloride papers, a product which was replicated
throughout the world by several companies. It is the
successor of that gelatine-based silver chloride emulsion
which persist as a specialist product today.
John HannavySee also: Cyanotype; Salted Paper Print; and
Albumen Print.Further Reading
Hunt, Robert, A Manual of Photography, London: Richard Griffi n
and Company, 1857
Tissandier, Gaston (translated by John Thomson), History and
Handbook of Photography, London: Sampson, Low, Mar-
ston, Searle & Rivington, 1878, reprinted New York: Arno
Press, 1973.
Wall, E.J., Dictionary of Photography, London: Hazel, Watson
& Viney, 1897.
Blanquart-Évrard, Louis-Désiré, Procédés employés pour obtenir
les épreuves de photographie sur papier, présentés à l’Aca-
démie des sciences. Paris: C. Chevalier, 1847
Hardwich, T. Frederick. A Manual of Photographic Chemistry,
London: John Churchill, 1855.
Jones, Bernard E, Encyclopedia of Photography, London: Cassell,- Reprinted New York: Arno Press, 1974.
Blanquart-Évrard, Louis-Désiré, Traité de photographie sur
papier. Paris: Librairie encyclopédique Roret, 1851.
Reilly, James M., The Albumen and Salted Paper Book: The
History and Practice of Photographic Printing, 1840–1895,
Rochester, NY: Light Impressions, 1980.
PRITCHARD, HENRY BADEN
(1841–1884)
Henry Baden Pritchard was born on 30 November 1841
the son of Andrew Pritchard the well-known optician,
spectacle and optical instrument maker. He was educated
in Eisenach and Lausanne and entered the War Depart-
ment at Woolwich Arsenal in 1861 at the age of twenty
and remained there until his death, superintending the
photographic branch. He married Mary Evans in 1873
after meeting her at the house of his friend H.Pp Rob-
inson in Tunbridge Wells.
Pritchard joined the Photographic Society in 1868
and was elected to Council in 1870, he became Honor-
ary Secretary in 1872, returned to Council in 1874 and