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entrepreneur Richard Beard, purchased the patent and
then offered Claudet £200 to cease practising. Claudet
refused and on 15 July 1841, Beard issued a court
injunction against him. But the law was on Claudet’s
side and stated that although the patentee had to buy
the licence, the licencee was not obliged to sell it. The
injunction was dissolved. This loophole, fortunately for
Claudet, allowed him to continue producing daguerreo-
type s freely with no obligation to Beard.
At the end 1841, Claudet took out patents for the
use of painted backdrops, the red light in the dark room
and artifi cial light. By this time Claudet was considered
both technically and artistically, the most skilful portrait
photographer in London. And in the same year, Claudet
took what are considered the fi rst instantaneous photo-
graphs ever taken. The subject was the members of the
Italian Opera in ballet poses.
In October Claudet was approached by William
Henry Fox Talbot to use Talbot’s calotype process. He
adopted it for a short time but soon returned to the da-
guerreotype as he was not happy with the inferior quality
that the paper calotype image produced.
With offi cial permission, in 1842 Claudet climbed
to the summit of the Duke of York’s column, between
St. James Park and Pall Mall and produced a series of
daguerreotypes of the panorama of London. A wood
engraving of these was printed in The Illustrated London
News January 1843 to promote the publications fi rst
six months in operation. Six wood blocks were used to
produce the print, which measured three by four feet.
In 1843, Claudet spent several months in Paris, where
he bought a Petzval lens which had a wider aperture to
reduce exposure times.
In 1844 Claudet exhibited his ‘multiple portraits’
at the Exposition de Produits de l’Industrie Francaise.
Claudet had out grown his studio at the Adelaide Gal-
lery, so he moved across to 18 King William St, at the
adjoining corner of the Adelaide Gallery. At this new
studio in 1845, Claudet employed the miniaturist painter
L.Mansion to colour daguerreotypes. Two years later,
Claudet opened another studio, The Colosseum, Regents
Park, London.
In 1848 Claudet invented the photographometer to
measure the sensitivity of light. This was the fi rst light
meter. Following on from this in 1849, he invented the
focimeter, an instrument used to aid focusing.
In 1850 Claudet invented the dynactometer, a device
used to compare the speed of different lenses.
Claudet opened what was to be his last studio in
- He called it the “Temple of Photography,” and it
was one of the grandest studios of its time situated at
107 Regent’s Street, London. The French artist Herrien
described the interior as the most elegant in London.
Renovations were carried out by Banks and Barry, archi-
tects, who had designed the Houses of Parliament. The
interior was designed in an Italian style, the reception
rooms with a series of murals showing the history of
photography and stereoscopy. This included fourteen
medallion portraits of photography inventors.
After the invention of the lenticular stereoscope in
1849 by Sir David Brewster (1781–1868) many of the
leading photographers of the time turned their atten-
tions to the stereoscope which was a device for viewing
photographs which gave an illusion of depth. Claudet
was one of the most enthusiastic of its followers and
before the invention of the binocular camera, Claudet
developed a way of achieving the desired effect with
two cameras side by side. In 1851 at the Great Exhibi-
tion in Crystal Palace, Claudet exhibited a selection of
stereo daguerreotypes alongside Dubosq’s stereoscopes.
Queen Victoria was greatly impressed by the novel
effect given by this new invention and Claudet sent a
selection of these pictures to her as well as to the Czar
of Russia. As a pioneering scientist Claudet devoted
himself to the improvement and the advancement of
stereoscopy and was largely responsible for the extent
of its popularity.
Among some of Claudet’s most prestigious sitters
at this time were, Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales,
Charles Dickens, Charles Babbage and he also produced
one of the only known portraits of the fi rst Duke of
Wellington.
In 1852, Claudet began his exploration into moving
image when he put pictures of himself taking off a hat,
and he put these on a pneumatoscope to give an illusion
of motion.
In 1853 Claudet was appointed Photographer in Or-
dinary to Queen Victoria. In the same year he became a
member of the Royal Society of London for the advance-
ment of science after his entry “The Application of the
Stereoscope to Photography.” In March 1853 Claudet
patented a folding pocket stereoscope and in 1855 he
patented a stereoscope with adjustible tubes to suit dif-
ferent eye widths. This patent also covered the invention
of a large revolving stereoscope where 100 stereoscopic
slides could be rotated on a band. Claudet’s fascination
with three-dimensional reality continued throughout his
life and for many years he worked on combining the
stereoscope with the zoetrope to create ‘moving pho-
tographic fi gures’ providing an important step towards
the creation of moving pictures. In April 1858, at the
Royal Society, Claudet presented his stereomonoscope
where two stereo pictures could be brought together in
one image enabling several people to view the pictures
on a large screen.
In 1865 Claudet was made the Chevalier de la Legion
d’honneur.
Towards the end of his life Claudet worked with John
Henry Dallmayer on differential focusing and was also
involved in producing Photosculptures.