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RAOULT, JEAN
types des Peuples de Russie, Roumanie et Bulgarie,”
a collection of “folk types,” shots of everyday life
and surroundings, mostly from Russia’s south, which
consisted of more than 200 photographs. Raoul’s pho-
tographs of 1880s depicting landscapes, the people and
the antiques of the Caucasus, the Crimea and the Volga
river were also assembled into albums. In 1877–1878,
during the Russian-Turkish War, Raoul travelled to
Romania and Bulgaria where he photographed the
military actions of the Russian forces. In 1879–1882
during the expedition to the Northern Caucasus,
Georgia and Armenia and later to Athos and Palestina
devoted to the searching for the Christian antiques
Raoul was a photographer accompanying Prof. N. P.
Kondakov. In 1884 staying in Constantinople after one
of Kondakov’s expeditions, Raoul decided to returne
to France. In 1890s he owned a photographic studio in
the south of France. He won prices at the Paris Geo-
graphic Exhibition (1875) and at the World Exhibition
in Paris (1878) for photographs of people of Moldavia,
Bessarabia and Odessa.
Alexei Loginov
RAU, WILLIAM HERMAN (1855–1920)
American photographer
William Herman Rau, a successful commercial pho-
tographer, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
on January 19, 1855 to German and Swiss immigrant
parents Peter and Mary Elizabeth Witschi Rau. He
began his photographic career at thirteen as an assis-
tant to Philadelphia photographer William Bell, and in
1874 served as a photographer with the United States
government’s Transit of Venus expedition in the South
Pacifi c, the fi rst of many photographic journeys. In 1881
he and Philadelphia photographer Edward L. Wilson
embarked on a photographic trip through the Middle
East, and Rau made subsequent photographic journeys
to many other countries including Belgium, Germany,
France, the Netherlands, Italy, England, and Mexico. In
1891 and in 1893 he received the important commis-
sion of photographically documenting the Pennsylvania
Railroad’s lines for promotional purposes, and in 1895
received a similar commission from the Lehigh Valley
Railroad. Rau also served as the offi cial photographer
for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and the 1905 Louis
and Clark Exposition. From 1886 until his death he
operated a busy commercial studio in Philadelphia with
an extensive stock of lantern slides. Rau was active
in photographic associations including the American
Lantern Slide Interchange and the Photographic Society
of Philadelphia. William Rau died in Philadelphia on
November 19, 1920.
Sarah J. Weatherwax
READE, JOSEPH BANCROFT
(1801–1870)
English chemist
The Reverend Joseph Bancroft Reade was born in Leeds,
Yorkshire, and was ordained as a deacon in the Church
of England at the age of twenty-four.
His interests in chemistry date from an early age,
and interests in science and microscopy endured for
most of his life. He served as President of the Royal
Microscopical Society in 1869 and 1870.
Of particular interest in considering his engagement
with photography is a letter he wrote in 1839, quoted
by Sir David Brewster in 1847, describing a photo-
graphic process involving the use of silver nitrate and
gallic acid, and which was fi xed with ‘hypo.’ Brewster
asserted that Reade’s successful experiments may have
predated Talbot’s calotype patent by up to two years. It
was later claimed that, having lectured on his process in
1839, Reade had ‘published’ his process before Talbot’s
patent was granted.
Research has demonstrated, however, that the reports
of Reade’s lecture and letter were partial and the dates
incorrect. His process was a modifi cation of Talbot’s
photogenic drawing process, and his reference to hypo
post-dated Herschel’s publication of his researches on
the chemical.
Notwithstanding that, Reade’s ‘priority’ was quoted
by lawyers for Martin Laroche in the court case Talbot
v Laroche in 1854, in an attempt to undermine Talbot’s
legal position.
John HannavyREEVE, LOVELL AUGUSTUS
(1814–1865)
English publisher of photographyThrough his many publications Lovell Reeve advanced
public expectation of the photographically illustrated
book.
Born in London, Reeve was apprenticed to a grocer,
but his interests quickly focused on natural history and
his fi rst book, Conchologia Systematica, was published
in 1842 or 1843. His interest in shells and natural his-
tory in turn led to an engagement with stereoscopic
photography.
His fi rst book as publisher, in 1858, was Charles
Piazzi Smyth’s Tenneriffe: An Astronomer’s Experi-
ment, the fi rst book to be photographically illustrated
with stereographs. It presented twenty pairs of prints
mounted on the octavo pages of the book, and Reeve
initially commissioned Negretti & Zambra to design
and manufacture a stereo viewer especially for viewing
book-mounted images.