907
could be reassembled on the screen to recreate the full
colour of the original ribbons.
Maxwell was born in Edinburgh on June 13, 1831,
and the family moved to Kirkcudbrightshire in 1834.
He was educated at home for some years, but later
studied at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh Univer-
sity before periods at Peterhouse and Trinity Colleges
in Cambridge.
His fi rst academic appointment was at Marischal Col-
lege in Aberdeen, but four years later he was appointed
Professor of Natural Philosophy at King’s College,
London. Already recognised as one of the eminent
physicists of his day, he quickly developed a reputation
as a leading authority and thinker on electro-magnetism,
and was the fi rst to offer the proposition that light was
a form of electro-magnetism. He also conducted early
research into colour blindness.
By 1871 he was the fi rst Cavendish Professor of
Physics in Cambridge, and a major force behind the
design and establishment of the world-famous Caven-
dish Laboratory.
He died on November 5, 1879, at the age of only 48.
John Hannavy
MAYALL, JOHN JABEZ EDWIN
(1813–1901)
John Jabez Edwin Mayall was one of the most en-
duringly successful professional photographers in
nineteenth-century Britain. Born in Oldham in 1813,
Mayall’s photographic career began when he moved to
Philadelphia in late 1841 or early 1842, working there
at 140 Chestnut Street as a photographer until 1846.
While working in Philadelphia between 1843 and 1844,
Mayall made an important series of ten daguerreo-
types depicting scenes from The Lord’s Prayer. This
illustrative use of photography was highly innovative
and prefi gures later work by Oscar Rejlander and Julia
Margaret Cameron. In 1848, Mayall’s brochure for his
London studio claimed that “These are the fi rst efforts
in developing the new branch of photographic fi ne art..
.Female fi gures (some of the most beautiful and talented
ladies of Philadelphia) have been chosen to embody
the precepts of this Divine Prayer.” Subsequent narra-
tive pictures included studies of Macbeth, Hamlet and
Thomas Campbell’s poem “The Soldier’s Dream.” Many
of these tableaux were shown at the Great Exhibition in
1851, where the catalogue called them “Daguerreotype
pictures to illustrate poetry and sentiment.”
In June 1846, Mayall returned to London. For a short
while, he served as an assistant to Antoine Claudet, be-
fore setting up his own studio at 433 Strand. Mayall ini-
tially operated under the name of Professor Highschool
at the “American Daguerreotype Institution.” American
daguerreotypes were known for their exceptional clar-
ity and Mayall was numbered among the fi rst rank of
photographers. In April 1847, the Athenaeum reviewed
the work of Kilburn and Mayall and declared that the
pair were “both so fertile in resource and imagination,
that in their hands it will probably be proved that this
art is as yet only in its infancy.” One notable feature of
Mayall’s work at this stage was his repudiation of the
practice of colouring daguerreotypes; he was worried
that a reaction with the photographic chemicals would
harm the permanency of the image.
According to Baden Pritchard, Mayall’s great coup
came in 1851 when he was asked to take pictures of the
Great Exhibition. He subsequently became friends with
Prince Albert and, in 1855, was invited to photograph
the British royal family. In 1855, the military authori-
ties also turned to him for advice. Two soldiers, Ensign
Brandon and Ensign Dawson, were trained by Mayall
for a month so they could operate as photographers in
the Crimea. His improving commercial fortunes are
also refl ected in his opening another establishment at
224 Regent Street in 1853, which was expanded to 226
Regent Street in 1856.
Mayall was responsible for several technical devel-
opments: throughout his career he was concerned with
improving the potential of the medium. On 25 January
1853, he took out a patent for the production of imitationMAYALL, JOHN JABEZ EDWIN
Mayall, John Jabez Edwin. The Prince of Wales (Edward VII).
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles © The J. Paul Getty
Museum.