1056
Some of the most important photographic patents of
the hundreds that were granted in the nineteenth century
are the following. The fi rst U.S. Patent in photography
was issued in 1840 to Alexander S. Wolcott for his
Method of Taking Likenesses by Means of a Concave
Refl ector and Plates So Prepared as that Luminous or
Other Rays Will Act Thereon (8 May 1840, No. 1,582).
His refl ector shortened the time of exposure in the
camera when taking a daguerreotype. Ann F. Stiles
was the fi rst woman to be issued a photographic pat-
ent. Her invention, a Case for Daguerreotype-Pictures
(22 January 1850, No. 7,041), consisted of a tube-like
case in which one could view a small daguerreotype
through a magnifying lens. Albert S. Southworth was
issued a patent for a Plate-Holder for Cameras (10 April
1855, No. 12,700), which allowed the photographer to
prepare one plate then slide it into place for multiple
views in rapid succession, or for stereoscopic views on
one plate. Edward J. Muybridge received two patents
for an Improvement in the Method and Apparatus for
Photographing Objects in Motion (4 March 1879, Nos.
212,864 & 212,865) for instantaneous photography,
where the subject is in rapid motion. George Eastman’s
patent for a Method and Apparatus for Coating Plates
for Use in Photography (13 April 1880, No. 226,503),
transformed photography from wet plate to dry plate
by making commercial gelatine dry plate affordable.
His machine could spread gelatine emulsion easily and
uniformly over glass, and eliminated the early problems
with the process.
Patents were not only issued for photographic
methods, but also for albums, cases, stereoscopes,
cameras, stands, head rests, burnishing tools, printing
frames, plate holders, photographic backgrounds and
baths, etc. Whereas many patents saw their way to
manufacture or use, others were quickly abandoned or
never realized.
Janice G. Schimmelman
See Also: Cutting, James Ambrose; Eastman, George;
Muybridge, Eadweard James; and Southworth, Albert
Sands, and Josiah Johnson Hawes.
Further Readings
Harmant, Pierre G., Qui est l’inventeur. Liste des brevets
d’invention des origines jusqu’a 1889 (50 ans de decouvertes)
[Who is the Inventor? List of Patents from the Beginning to
1889 (50 Years of Discoveries)], in Schweizerische Photor-
undschau, 1963–1966.
Jensen, James S., Cutting’s Edge, in Collodion Journal, vol. 5
no. 19, Summer 1999, 1–2, 4–9.
Jordan, Doug, Some Patents of Note: Early Coloring Patents, The
Daguerreian Annual 1994, n.p.: The Daguerreian Society,
1994, 73–78.
Marillier Claude-Alice and R. Derek Wood, “Pierre G. Harmant
(1921–1995): A Bibliography,” in History of Photography,
vol. 21 no. 3, Autumn 1997, 248–52.
Schimmelman, Janice G., American Photographic Patents
1840–1880: The Daguerreotype & Wet Plate Era, Nevada
City, CA: Carl Mautz, 2002.
Taft, Robert, Photography and the American Scene, New York:
Macmillan Company, 1938.
Welling, William, Photography in America: The Formative Years
1839–1900, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1978.PAUL, ROBERT WILLIAM (1869–1943)
English inventor and electrical engineer
Born October 3, 1869, at 3 Albion Place, Highbury,
North London, and active in Britain’s early motion
picture industry, Paul had following a technical edu-
cation and employment with the electrical instrument
makers Elliott Bros, Strand, started his own business
in 1891, at 44 Hatton Garden. Asked by two Greek
entrepeneurs to make copies of the Edison Kinetoscope
motion picture peepshow machine, he realised that the
design had not been patented in England and started
making examples on his own account. Introduced
to photographer Birt Acres, their resulting camera
for 35mm fi lm provided motion pictures for Paul’s
kinetoscopes. Subjects taken by Acres in 1895 included
The Derby (the oldest surviving English fi lm), Rough
Sea at Dover (screened in New York in April 1896),
and several comic scenes. After an acrimonious split
with Acres, Paul made a successful fi lm projector,
the Theatrograph, and a new camera. Films included
A Soldier’s Courtship, shot on the roof of London’s
Alhambra Theatre. Paul built a studio and continued
producing motion picture machines and fi lms until
leaving the changing industry in 1910, to concentrate
once again on electrical engineering. He died March
28, 1943, at Twickenham, England.
Stephen HerbertPEASE, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
(1822–1888)
American engraver, studio owner, and photographer
One of eight children, Benjamin Franklin Pease was
born November 17, 1822, in Poughkeepsie, New York, to
Dudley Pease, and Sara Rilley. According to the family
genealogy, Benjamin was considered an artist as a young
adult and by 1846 he was engaged as a wood engraver.
Pease arrived in Lima, Peru, ca. 1852, and a published
advertisement states that he purchased a daguerreotype
studio at 14 Plateros. Sometime around 1855 he married
Peruvian Mercedes Ramírez and together they had eigh-
teen children, though not all the children survived.
He operated successfully for several years at the