242
total of twenty-four tipped-in salted paper prints from
calotypes. The work was published by Talbot and re-
leased as a limited edition in six installments between
1844 and 1846.
The paper negative process was passionately
practiced by a devoted group of practitioners from
1841–1860s, some of who brought the art to it’s high-
est achievement. In addition, there were at least three
hundred amateurs who embraced the calotype as their
process of choice in the 1850s. In addition to those men-
tioned above, interesting and important early work exists
by Talbot’s relative, Welshman Rev. Calvert Richard
Jones (1804–1877). The French excelled in the process,
among the leaders Hippolyte Bayard, Maxime DuCamp
(1822–1894), Eduard-Denis Baldus (1815–1882), and
Louis-Désiré Blanquart Evrard (1802–1872). The Phila-
delphia daguerreotype studio of Fredrick (1809–1897)
and William Langenheim (1807–1874) are virtually the
only known examples of Americans practicing the art.
The calotype reached its apex in the late 1850s, side
by side with its sister process, Le Gray’s waxed paper
negative. At that time there were three equal pillars of
photography: the daguerreotype, paper negative pho-
tography, and glass plate photography (collodion and
albumen). But however fi ne and delicate, the details
of paper negatives were never as sharp as the glass
plate negative, to which it was constantly compared.
Increasingly, the fi brous softening of the optical edge
was seen as a drawback. In 1863 papers for the calotype
were still readily available by photographic suppliers,
but the direction of photography was moving towards
the glass plate negative and its complement, the albu-
men silver print. Despite brief revivals in the 1900s
and 1920s, by 1870 the golden era of the calotype had
come to an end.
Lee Ann Daffner
See Also: Talbot, William Henry Fox; Photogenic
Drawing Negative; and Latent Image.
Further Reading
Blanchère, H., Répertoire Encyclopédique de Photographie, Paris:
Bureau de la Rédaction D’Abonnement et de Vente, 1865.
Brettell, Richard R., and Roy Fluckinger, et al., Paper and Light:
the Calotype in France and Great Britain, 1839–1870. Lon-
don: David Godine, 1984.
Delamotte, Philip Henry, The Practice of Photography: A Manual
for Students and Amateurs. London: Joseph Cundell, 1853.
Eder, Josef Maria, (translated by Edward Epstein), History of
Photography, New York: Columbia University Press, 1945.
Haist, Grant, Modern Photographic Processing, New York: John
Wiley and Sons, 1979.
Hills, Richard L., Papermaking in Britain 1488–1988: a short
history. London: Athlone Press, 1988.
Jammes, Andre and Eugenia Parry Janis, The Art of French Calo-
type With a Critical Dictionary of Photographers, 1845–1870.
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Newhall, Beaumont, History of Photography, From 1839 to the
Present, Completely revised and enlarged edition, New York:
The Museum of Modern Art, 1982.
Schaaf, Larry J., Out of the Shadows: Herschel, Talbot & the
Invention of Photography, New Haven, Connecticut and
London: Yale University Press, 1992.
Schaaf, Larry J., Records From the Dawn of Photography:
Talbot’s Notebooks P & Q, Cambridge and New York: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1996.
Sparling, W., Theory and Practice of the Photographic Art;
Including Its Chemistry and Optics. London: Houlston and
Stoneman, 1856.
Talbot, William Henry Fox, The Process of Calotype Photogenic
Drawing, Communicated to the Royal Society, June 10th,
1841. (London: J.L. Cox and Sons, 1841. 4 pp.). Reprinted
[33–35] in Photography: Essays and Images, Edited by Beau-
mont Newhall, Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980.
Ware, Mike, Mechanisms of image deterioration in early pho-
tographs: the sensitivity to light of W. H. F. Talbot’s halide-
fi xed images, 1834–1844. London and Bradford: Science
Museum and National Museum of Photography, Film and
Television, 1994.
Wood, Rupert Derek, “Latent Developments from Gallic Acid,
1839 ,” Journal of Photographic Science, vol. 28, no. 1 (Jan.-
Feb. 1980), 36–41.CAMERA ACCESSORIES
The original daguerreotype apparatus was manufactured
for Louis Daguerre by Alphonse Giroux of Paris in 1839
was offered as a complete outfi t—everything the aspir-
ing photographer needed except plates and chemicals
was included. The outfi t weighed over 45 kilos, and
the camera could be used successfully without any ad-
ditional accessories.
As the art and science of photography matured,
however, a range of additions and accessories were
introduced to improve the reliability and repeatability
of the procedures.Tripods and Camera Supports
The earliest cameras were operated on tables or any
other usable support, but camera stands or tripods were
included in many complete outfi ts. Initially, they were of
fi xed height, chosen to give the operator a comfortable
working position.
Adjustable camera stands were introduced before
1850, and by 1853 advertisements offered both fi xed and
adjustable height tripods, and camera stands embodying
either rack or screw height adjustments. The adjustable
tripod was inspired by the quest for lighter, collapsible,
and easily transportable equipment as photography was
taken out into the landscape. Folding tripods and col-
lapsible darktents were included in many designs for a
photographer’s backpack.
Even the earliest tripod designs featured a hinged
camera platform, allowing the elevation of the camera
to be adjusted upwards or downwards as required.