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from a family of opticians established along the quai
de l’Horloge, île de la Cité. After ten years spent in the
Napoleonic army, Vincent returned to Paris in 1803
to fi nd his father had died, taking the family business
with him. As a result, Vincent worked for other opti-
cians before opening his own shop at 21 bis, quai de
l’Horloge in 1805. His business a success, in 1810 he
moved to a larger location at 67, quai de l’Horloge. In
1818, he expanded his shop into the neighboring 69,
quai de l’Horloge. His son Charles also began working
for him at this time.
Since glass was not made in his father’s shop, from
1819–1821 Charles enrolled as an apprentice to an
optician named Godelar. Charles’s health started to
decline and he began to suffer from bouts of depression,
characterized by a series of persecution crises that were
to plague him throughout his life. The fi rst concerned
Vincent’s 1819 invention of a camera obscura with a
meniscus prism lens, whereupon the refl ecting surface
normally located in the camera was reincorporated as
part of the lens. Charles believed that the idea was his,
and became angry that his father received exclusive
credit for its invention.
From 1822–1824, the Chevaliers concentrated on the
production of microscopes. During this time, Charles
succeeded in constructing uncemented, achromatic
lenses made from two crown bi-convex lenses and one
fl int bi-concave lens. In this, he followed the theories
of Leonhard Euler (1707–1783).
By 1824, the painter Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre
had become a weekly visitor to the Chevaliers’ shop.
On one occasion, Daguerre informed them that he had
succeeded in fi xing an image using a camera obscura.
This was followed, in 1826, by the visit of Colonel Da-
vid Niépce, who wanted to buy a meniscus prism lens
for his cousin, Nicéphore Niépce. The colonel informed
the Chevaliers that his cousin had succeeded in fi xing
an image created by photosensitive means, and showed
them an example. Two weeks later, an anonymous visitor
arrived in their shop, and showed Charles an image that he
obtained with a camera obscura. The man never returned,
but the event reminded Charles of Daguerre’s earlier
claim. As a result, he informed Daguerre about the work
of Niépce, suggesting that they contact each other.
Throughout 1826–1829, the Chevaliers sent Niépce
a number of lenses, ranging from a prism meniscus,
to a Wollaston-type periscopic meniscus, to an unce-
mented, achromatic bi-convex lens adapted from their
microscopes.
In 1831–1832, Charles had series of quarrels with his
father, with Charles claiming that he was poorly paid.
This lead to a fi nal break with his father’s business in
1832, whereupon Charles set up shop in another part of
Paris, at 163, galerie de Valois, Palais-Royal.
From 1832–1839, little is known about Vincent’s
activities. Charles, however, specialized in achromatic
binoculars and telescopes, and relocated his business
to 153, galerie de Valois, Palais-Royal. He also made
lenses for Daguerre, who continued Niépce’s research
following Niépce’s death in 1833. In particular, one lens
consisted of a bi-convex crown glass element and fl int
glass bi-concave element cemented together, forming
an achromatic, positive meniscus arrangement along
the lines of a Wollaston periscopic lens. This would
constitute the fi rst lens sold in daguerreotype camera
outfi ts in 1839.
Upon the announcement of the daguerreotype process
in 1839, the demand for camera lenses was so great
that Charles was unable to keep up with the demand.
Consequently, production was taken over by a rival fi rm
headed by Noël-Paymal Lerebours, who supplied the
majority of the Daguerre-Giroux camera outfi ts with
an inferior achromatic, plano-convex lens. Another
problem was that the single achromatic lens was found
to be impracticable for portraits, due to the necessity of
using a stop in making the exposure.
Returning to an 1834 telescope design, the Lunette à
verres combinés [Telescope made from combined glass],
involving two achromatic lens elements separated in a
tube, Charles modifi ed the design so that it could be
used at full aperture as a photographic lens. This was
marketed in early 1840 as the Photographe à verres
combinés, along with a folding camera design named
the Grande Photographe. In addition to its being the
fi rst double, or portrait lens made for photography, the
Photographe à verres combinés was also the fi rst con-
vertible, or variable focal length lens, consisting of lens
components that could be taken apart and reassembled
to obtain different lens formations with different focal
lengths.
By early 1841, Charles’s portrait lens was threat-
ened by a rival, the Petzval portrait lens, marketed by
the Viennese fi rm, Voigtländer. Adding to Charles’s
frustration was that the Petzval lens proved to be more
popular with daguerreotype portraitists, since it allowed
for shorter exposure times and a higher resolution at the
center of the image.
On 29 November 1841, Vincent died, and the two
estranged family businesses were reunited at Charles’s
Palais-Royal address.
Largely at Charles’s instigation, in 1842, the Parisian
Société d’Encouragement [Encouragement Society]
began a comparative analysis of the relative merits of
the Photographe à verres combinés and Petzval lens,
to determine which one was the best. Not surprisingly,
since Charles was a board member, the society sided
with his Photographe à verres combinées, stating that
its circle of defi nition covered a whole-plate, whereas
the Petzval lens only covered a quarter-plate.
Still frustrated by the continued success of the Petzval