JF Ptak Science Books Post 2800
"An Account of some Experiments made in the South of Virginia on the Light of the Sun...", published in the Philosophical Magazine (London) in 1840, is a very early photographic effort by John Draper on the effects of solar light on different material and media, including silver solutions. This is the first appearance of the work in Great Britain and Europe, having appeared in a much longer (32pp) version in the Journal of the Franklin Institute from 1837. Draper remarks that his works in photography were not much read in England, having been published in the U.S., and thought to bring this paper in particular to the attention of the Philosophical Magazine: He writes in the paper that “Most of these have been published in the Journal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia; but as they do not appear to have been noticed in England, I will ask the favour of a page or two of your excellent Magazine, to give my testimony on a subject, which now appears to excite so much interest.”
Of perhaps greater interest here is the announcement in the June 1840 issue in this same volume of Draper's success in producing human portraits by the Daguerre process. It is a short notice (only five lines, appearing on page 535) and even though it is stated that the Draper paper was received on March 31st it still somehow did not make it into the May issue of the journal--this in spite of this being the first official announcement of a human portrait being made in photography. This is slightly complex because even though Draper's portrait of his sister, Dorothy, was long recognized as being the first photographic portrait, it seems as though he was beaten to the punch by Alexander Wolcott (and/or Robert Cornelius?), though it was Draper who made the announcement of a successful portrait (in general) and thus the first overseas notice of the success. (Draper did make the first photograph of the Moon later in 1840...)
[Source: this no-mid-tone black & white image is from Google Books and not from my own copy of this work--I just didn't want to hold the book open flat enough to make the image, but the idea of the announcement certainly gets across...]
From the Dictionary of Scientific Biography:
"Draper first achieved wide celebrity for his pioneering work in photography. As early as 1837, while still in Virginia, he had followed the example of Wedgwood and Davy in making temporary copies of objects by the action of light in sensitized surfaces. When the details of Daguerre's process for fixing camera images were published in various New York newspapers on 20 September 1839, Draper was ready for the greatest remaining challenge, to take a photographic portrait. A New York mechanic, Alexander S. Wolcott, apparently won the race by 7 October. But if Draper knew of this, he persisted in his own experiments and succeeded in taking a portrait not later than December 1839. His communication to the Philosophical Magazine, dated 31 March 1840, was the first report received in Europe of any photographer's success in portraiture. The superb likeness of his sister Dorothy Catharine, taken not later than July 1840, with an exposure of sixty-five seconds, seems to be the oldest surviving photographic portrait."
"In the busy winter of 1839–1840, Draper also took the first photograph of the moon and launched, in a very modest way, the age of astronomical photography. He obtained “distinct” representations of the dark spots or lunar maria. He first announced his success to the New York Lyceum of Natural History on 23 March 1840. Fittingly enough, Draper’s second son, Henry, became one of the most distinguished astronomical "--Dictionary of Scientific Biography
Notes:
1, Draper, John William (1811-1882)."An Account of some Experiments made in the South of Virginia on the Light of the Sun by John Wm Draper MD Professor of Chemistry in the University of New York", February, 1840 issue in the Philosophical Magazine, volume 16, London, January-June 1840; 21.5x12.5 cm, 607pp.
Also appearing in this volume:
- “On the Theory of Substitutions in Chemistry, proposed by M. Dumas. In a Letter to M. Pelouze from M. Berzelius “ and “M. Dumas's Memoir on the Law of Substitutions, and the Theory of Chemical Types” 322 -329 and M. Dumas's "Memoir on the Law of Substitutions, and the Theory of Chemical Types (continued)", 442 -447, and "M. Dumas's Memoir on the Law of Substitutions, and the Theory of Mechanical Types (continued)" pp 501-505;
- Prof. Sylvester on Derivation of Coexistence: Part I. Being the Theory of simultaneous simple homogeneous Equations 37-44;
- Sir John F. W. Herschel's new Researches on the Solar Spectrum and in Photography, a half-page note on p239;
- Joseph Henry, "Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism No III On Electro dynamic Induction", pp 200-210; and "Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism No III On Electro dynamic Induction" continued, pp 254-265 and concluded "Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism No III On Electro-dynamic Induction concluded" pp 551-561;
- Robert Hunt "Experiments and Observations on Light which has permeated coloured Media and on the Chemical Action of the Solar Spectrum" pp 267-276;
- John William Draper "On the Electro-motive Power of Heat" pp 451-461.
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