1439
applications were made in France and England, and
van Monckhoven set up as a manufacturer of heliostat
enlargers under the name “appareil solar dialytique”
[dialytic solar apparatus]. He received a bronze medal
at the Paris international exhibition of 1867 for his
innovation, and published the fruit of his research as
Traité d’optique photographique, Paris: V. Masson et
fi ls, 1866. The Traité général quickly ran to fourth and
fi fth editions also under the Masson imprint in 1863 and
1865 respectively.
Van Monckhoven moved to Vienna in January 1867
to form a partnership with the portrait photographer Emil
Rabending, constructing a state-of-the-art studio in the
Wieden district, at Favoritenstrasse 3 “in the courtyard
of the imperial iron foundry.” About two years later van
Monckhoven dissolved the partnership to pursue scien-
tifi c interests in his own laboratory. Returning to Ghent
in the autumn of 1870, van Monckhoven established a
factory for the production of carbon paper, and published
two works on the subject: Historique du procédé au
charbon [History of the carbon process], Ghent: Annoot-
Braeckman, 1875 and Traité pratique de photographie
au charbon [Practical treatise on carbon photography],
Paris: G. Masson, 1876. He also published a sixth edition
of the Traité général, Paris: V. Masson, 1873.
The introduction of dry-plate photography stimu-
lated van Monckhoven to make his most signifi cant
contribution to photo-chemistry. Realising that Richard
Leach Maddox’s invention was poised to revolutionise
photography thanks to its ease of handling, he had the
factory diversify into emulsion production. Pursuing his
research into the properties of silver halides in 1879, van
Monckhoven discovered that the ripening of emulsion
on gelatine-bromide plates could be improved by add-
ing ammonia, thereby enhancing the tonal range. He
wrote Introduction sur le procédé au gélatino-bromure
d’argent [Introduction to the silver gelatine bromide
process], Ghent: C. Annoot-Braeckman, which went
into four editions between 1879 and 1882. A seventh
edition of the Traité général, Paris: G. Masson, 1880,
contained a chapter on dry-plate photography summa-
rising the author’s fi ndings. The factory was expanded
in 1880, employing thirty female workers for coating
plates, and reached an annual turnover of one million
gold francs that year.
Désiré van Monckhoven married Hortense Tackels
(1839–1911) on 12 December 1872, and they had two
daughters. In his spare time, he devoted himself to
astronomy, and constructed a private observatory. A
telescope, equipped with a 23 cm Steinheil lens, was
custom-built in 1880, and van Monckhoven began
work on a star atlas. This work went unrealised, as
Van Monckhoven died suddenly of a heart attack on
the evening of his forty-eighth birthday, at his home in
Ghent on 25 September 1882.
Hortense Tackels headed the fi rm after her husband’s
death, and was followed by her son-in-law, the engineer
and future senator Jean-Alfred de Lanier-van Monck-
hoven (born 1852). The fi rm successfully marketed
dry plates under the D.V.M. label from around 1886,
operating out of Boulevard d’Akkergem 74 until 1908.
Two posthumous editions of the Traité général appeared
under the imprint Paris: G. Masson, 1884 and 1889.
The Museum voor de Geschiedenis van de Weten-
schappen [Museum of the History of Science], Ghent,
houses a dialytic solar apparatus, some van Monck-
hoven manuscripts and a virtually complete set of his
publications. The University of Ghent acquired the 23
cm telescope in 1904, which is still operational in the
observatory. The Nadar papers in the western manu-
scripts section at the Bibliothèque nationale de France—
Département des manuscrits contain a substantial and
lively correspondence by van Monckhoven.
Steven F. JosephBiography
Désiré Carolus Emanuel van Monckhoven was born
in Ghent on 25 September 1834, the illegitimate son
of Francisca Maria van Monckhoven. The birth certifi -
cate declares “father unknown.” Early clerical training
was followed by studies at the University of Ghent,
where he gained a doctorate in 1862. A renowned
photo-chemist, van Monckhoven published his initial
research on collodium in 1855, and wrote numerous
works on photography and optics. Also a pioneer of the
photographic industry in Belgium, his factory, founded
in 1870, produced carbon tissue, and later emulsion for
dry-plate photography. He married Hortense Tackels
(1839–1911) on 12 December 1872, and they had two
daughters. Van Monckhoven died suddenly of a heart
attack on his forty-eighth birthday, at his home in Gh-
ent on 25 September 1882. His widow continued to
run the factory successfully, which operated in Ghent,
Boulevard d’Akkergem 74, until 1908.Further Reading
D. Van Monckhoven 1834–1882, Antwerp: Provinciaal Museum
voor Fotografi e, 1982 (colloquium held to commemorate the
centenary of van Monckhoven’s death, with texts by Steven
Joseph, Laurent Roosens, and Paul Faelens).
Joseph, Steven F. and Tristan Schwilden, “Désiré Van Monck-
hoven (1834–1882). Son rôle dans le développement de la
photographie” [Désiré Van Monckhoven (1834–1882). His
role in the development of photography], Technologia, 5
(1982): 31-41 and 7 (1984): 29–32.
Joseph, Steven F., Tristan Schwilden and Marie-Christine Claes,
Directory of Photographers in Belgium 1839–1905, Antwerp
and Rotterdam: Uitgeverij C. de Vries-Brouwers, 1997.
Nadar, Quand j’étais photographe [When I was a Photogra-
pher], Paris: E. Flammarion, 1900 (reprint Paris: l’école des
lettres/Seuil, 1994).