1855 THE ART-JOURNAL, vol. n.s. I
ver. Nov. 18, 2008
NOTES:
TRANSCRIPTION CONVENTIONS:
--Italics have been retained from publications, which uses them for both titles as well as emphasis. To more easily locate image titles, I have continued this italicization when titles have been rendered in all capitols or put in quotes, however italics have NOT been used when the general subject of an image is mentioned.
--Photographer’s (or potential photographer’s) names have been bolded – see also below under “Names”
--Brackets [ ] are used to indicate supplied comments by the transcriber; parenthesis
( ) are used in the original sources. If the original source has used brackets, they have been transcribed as parenthesis to avoid confusion.
--Spelling and typos: Nineteenth-century spellings occasionally differs from currently accepted norms. In addition, British spellings also differ from American usage. Common examples are: “colour” vs. “color”; “centre” vs. “center’” the use of “s” for “z” as in “recognise” vs. “recognize; and the use of one “l” instead of “ll” as in “fulfilment”. While great care has been exercised in transcribing the 19th-century journals exactly as printed, “spell check” automatically corrects many of these differences. An attempt has been made to recorrect these automatic changes, but no doubt some have slipped through. As for typographical errors, these have been checked although no doubt some have managed to slip through the editorial process. For matters of consequence, I will be happy to recheck the original sources if need be for specific references.
-- Technical articles: For the most part, articles discussing technical aspects of photography, products, etc. were not transcribed unless they are part of a larger article covering photographs. When technical descriptions are too lengthy to include, that has been noted. Exceptions have been made as the transcriber saw fit.
--Meetings of Societies: Names of officers, members attending or referenced, dates and locations of meetings have been given. The first and/or earliest meetings recorded have been transcribed in full. Beyond those early years, only if the reports are very short or discuss photographs, have the articles been copied in full; if administrative or technical in nature. Although not always possible due to time constraints on borrowed materials, when possible, I have included at least the dates of society meetings and any photographer’s names listed.
-- Related, contemporary journals: e.g., The Art-Journal, cover both photographer as well as painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.. As they frequently refer to the production of both the photographer and the painter as “pictures” it is not always possible to tell when photography is indicated. If there is doubt, these articles have been included and the names bolded, but the individuals may, in fact, not be photographers.
NAMES:
--All photographer’s names have been bolded for easy location. EXCEPTIONS: While it is likely that people working with photographic equipment and techniques are also photographers some discretion has been used and not all such names have been bolded. Names of honorary members of a photographic society are assumed to be photographers and thus bolded, when in fact, that may not be the case. Names mentioned in connection with meetings of non-photographic societies have not been bolded unless there is a known or suspected photographic association. A computer word search, however, will still enable the researcher to locate any references to specific names.
--Names: Given abbreviations for titles such as “M” for “Monsieur”, etc., it is not always possible to tell if an individual’s first name or title is being abbreviated. Thus, especially with non-English photographers, too much credence should not be put into an initial that could also serve as an abbreviated title.
--It is not always possible in lists of photographers to know when two separate photographers are partners or not, e.g., in a list, “Smith and Jones” sometimes alludes to two separate photographers and sometimes to one photographic company. Both names will be highlighted and indexed but a partnership may be wrongly assumed. Any information to the contrary would be appreciated.
NUMBERS:
--Numbers referenced in the various journals can refer to either the photographer’s image number, or an entry number in an exhibition catalog. When the number is obviously is obviously that of the photographer, it is included in the index under the photographer’s name, whereas exhibition numbers are not.
1855: ArtJ, April 1, vol. I, no #, p. 132:
Reviews: [extract]
Four Subjects, Designed and Photographed by Lake Price. Published by H. Greaves & Co., London.
At the first glance we imagined that Mr. Price had been poaching on another person’s manor, or, in other words, had trespassed on the ground of the engraver, by painting a series of subjects, and then reproducing them in a different form; had he done so, however, we should not have quarreled with him, as it would be his undoubted right so to do if he thinks fit’ still the painter and engraver, we are not speaking of artists who “etch” only, are seldom united in the same individual. But on reading the “imprint” below the photographs, we find they are taken from the life, or from nature; that is, Mr. Price has arranged certain persons and picturesque materials in his atelier, ,and has then subjected them to the photographic process. The first subject, the “Baron’s Welcome,” represents three person’s at a table, habited in ancient costume, with huge drinking-cups in their hands; on the table are a boar’s head and other symbols of a feast; two retainers are in waiting, and the room is hung with tapestry, and decorated with antique armour, &c.; the scene is altogether one of the olden time. The grouping of the figures is good; those who are seated keep their places well, but the “men-in-waiting” seem screwed up in a corner, there is not space for their elbows, to “fill the foaming flagon.” The picture would have been better had they been quite away. The photograph, generally, is clear and effective. In the second picture, “Ginevra,” the satin dress of the lady is marvelously imitated, and her face expressive; as she has been copied “from the lift,” our gallantry forbids us saying more. The light and shade are admirably managed here, but we could wish the walls of the apartment had been thrown back rather more, they seem to hem the lady in. “Rétour de Chasse,” the next subject, is a miscellaneous grouping of game, hunting implements, cups, plate, &c., such as Lance would put together; many of these are sharply brought out. The last picture, “The Court Cupboard,” is a sort of “arranged debris” of mediæval Art-works; the contents of the cupboard are plates, goblets, cups, candlesticks, vases, and with these are suits of armour, pieces of armour, carved panels, and other antiquarian “oddities.” This is the least effective photograph of the series, the lights are too much scattered, and the objects not sufficiently defined. Taking the four as a whole, they present a very pleasing application of the photographic Art.
1855: ArtJ, April 1, vol. I, no #, p. 132:
Reviews: [extract]
Photographic Delineations of the Scenery, Architecture, and Antiquities of Great Britain and Ireland. By Russell Sedgfield. Part I. Published by S. Highley, London
We have in this publication another attempt to make the photographic apparatus do the work of the painter and the engraver. It contains five large plates,--two of ancient buildings in the quiet old town of Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk; two of portions of Norwich Cathedral; and one of Binham Priory, Norfolk. They are admirable examples of this wonderful scientific art, which, however faithful as a delineator, can rarely, after all, give to pictures the life, the colour, and the poetry of nature. Photographic representations are facts, and facts in Art are more agreeable to our eye when a little fancy is interwoven with them: even among the ruins of the past, and the graves of the sleeping dead, we like to see some gleams of the sunshine of the present, and something to remind us of beauty and vitality, if it be only the bright eye of the daisy on the turf.