The Daguerreotype

The discovery of light-sensitive chemicals in mid-nineteenth-century Europe carried large implications -- for scientists, technicians, astronomers, and for the businesspeople who soon made family portraiture standard tabletop fare in middle-class homes. In The Daguerreotype: Nineteenth-Century Technology and Modern Science, M. Susan Barger and William B. White begin with a history of the process itself. Tracing the daguerreotype´s origins and development, they proceed to discuss what researchers in this century have learned about the chemistry of the daguerreotype. They also address practical curatorial issues, describing how to restore and preserve the artifacts themselves. Richly illustrated, this survey of a fascinating and ubiquitous feature of mid-nineteenth-century life also provides a detailed technical study of the daguerreotype process.