1864 BRITISH JOURNAL OF
PHOTOGRAPHY
vol. X
Ver: Oct. 10, 2007
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” and 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.
1864: BJP Jan. 1, vol. XI, #205, p.13:
Stereographs.
Instantaneous Sea and Land Views at Brighton. Photographed by Valentine Blanchard. London: C.E. Elliott, Aldermanbury Postern.
There is, perhaps, no single one of the English watering-places so constantly and extensively frequented as Brighton. The nearest b y both tme and distance to the Metropolis—admirably served by railway accommodation (in fact as well as nominally, which is not the case everywhere) with two London termini some three or four miles apart—what wonder is it that Belgravia-Super-Mare is always full? True there is a difference in the company at different times of the year; but visitors of some sort are always to be found there in plenty. It has often occurred to our fancy that the season is to a watering-place what expression is to a face—it enhances or mars the charm of beauty, renders a plain face pleasing or makes a pretty one ugly, according as we see either under its best or worst aspect.
Brighton in July, is to us, simply unbearable. Hot and dusty—blazing with unmitigated sunshine, rendered ten times worse by its chalky roads—crowded with the oi polloi dressed in glaring colour—and looking fussy just when the think of all others that one longs for is, quiet—who with any taste can like Brighton as such a time? But change the season. Let it be dark, dismal, foggy, choky November or December in town: then take that little hour-and-a-quarter’s run by rail, and no transformation-scene in a pantomime can offer a greater contrast than is presented to the eye of the traveler. It seems almost like a glimpse of Paradise—bright skies, fresh air, and instead of the damp, chilly fog we left behind, we are suddenly plunged into the genial atmosphere of spring. Brighton is even more frequented now than during the summer time; but what a change in the characteristics of the visitors! The costumes of the fairer portion may be as brilliant as before; but there is no bad taste now—no glaring contrasts. The colours may be bright, but they are harmonious. There is plenty of bustle and movement, but no fuss. Nay, the atmosphere is so bracing that the very sight of activity is a positive pleasure, and the constant succession of picturesque groups a study for an artist! Here comes a troop of some dozen or twenty ladies on horseback, accompanied by a riding-master, on their way for a canter on the Downs; there four or five gentlemen “in pink,” with perhaps a lady smuggled in amongst them, going to fall in with the hounds! Then who shall describe the
Kaleidoscopic scene on the Esplanade, where the laughing, gossiping, flirting, band-playing, &c., &c., so on? Who? Why, Mr. Blanchard, with his camera! Hew shall describe it and other Brighton scenes as nobody with merely pen and ink can do. So the first slide we will take up is this same Esplanade, though labeled
The King’s Road, looking east (No. 260). The sun is shining, and it is high noon; we can tell that by the crowds on the Esplanade, and by the direction of the shadows right across the pathway. This is one of the marvels of photography. There are several hundreds of people, mostly walking, a few standing or sitting, but all admirably defined; some carriages in motion, many at rest, including a little goat-chaise and a wagonette drawn by a donkey, the boy in charge of the last-named vehicle gazing fixedly at Mr. Blanchard’s operations. The new monster hotel is visible on the extreme left of the picture, and in the distance, at least a mile away, is the chain pier: a few fleecy clouds break up the monotony of the sky. We have already remarked upon the definition of the mass of people on the Esplanade; but there is one most singular coincidence which will tend to convince our readers how excellent this is. In the immediate foreground (and consequently in the very worst place for definition) are a gentleman and a young lady walking, and, oddly enough, we recognize them as personal friends of our own. We have no idea when the negative was taken: we are quite certain that our friends know nothing of Mr. Blanchard, and that they were on the spot by a mere accident; but, for all that, we have no doubt about their identity, for they were recognised independently by two other members of our own family when looking at this slide.
The King’s Road, looking west (No. 278), is very good, but not so interesting as the preceding. It is taken from the top of the slope leading down to the beach in front of East-street. Some boys with placards have moved just enough to prevent the printing being legible, though we can make out the words “post-office” on an index attached to a lamp-post. In this case, also, Mr. Blanchard had a select audience of interested observers, including a trim little maiden of about six or seven years of age, who is shading her eyes with her hands in order to get a better view of his proceedings.
Promenade Concert on the Beach (No. 276) is another capital specimen. This is taken from the Esplanade. The band is in the act of performing, the numerous listeners being chiefly seated upon the benches (By the way, the title is somewhat of a misnomer.) Just a few bathing-machines are at the water’s edge, though by far the greater number of them are not pushed down, showing that it is still early for the best part of the Brighton season—that is say very late in the autumn. Further westward on the beach may be noticed another large group of persons, which we know from experience to be those collected about the man with the performing birds, though we admit that we cannot make out the birds at that distance in the stereoscope; and on the sloping bank near at hand are two boys seated, one having a violin and bow under his arm. Amongst the other scenes of this class which we may mention as being good, though we cannot afford space for description, are—
The Marine Parade (No. 262), as seen from the Junction Parade, in front of the Queen’s Hotel;
No. 277, The King’s Road, taken from a spot close to Brill’s baths;
No. 268, A Scene on the Beach, looking westerly;
Nos. 264 and 265, two views of The Pavilion;
No. 266, The Chain Pier, from the beach at low tide.
There are in the series several very fine sky and water studies, taken in Mr. Blanchard’s best style. That designated A Coming Shower (No. 271) is an excellent specimen. Masses of heavy rolling clouds, surcharged with moisture, are being rapidly brought over the land by the wind. The sun, hidden behind them, is still shining upon the sea rolling in with a regular series of breaking waves, and a few fishing smacks are drawn up on the shingles in the foreground.
An Angry Sea is another fine study. The breakers are throwing up much surf, which is beautifully indicated; and the long stretch of backwater is such that few could withstand being drawn back with it were they within its reach.
Two fine picturesque studies, reminding us of Mr. G. W. Wilson’s productions, are Sunset on the Sands (No. 270), and Evening Shadows (272). In the former, the sun is hidden behind some grotesquely-formed clouds, lighting up their edges; and the whole subject is reflected with still more grotesque contortions from the surface of the wet sand. In the latter, the sun is not quite so low down, and only partially hidden by the point of a bank of clouds, the rays streaming down upon the water and forming that irregular streak of light with which all who watch the changing effects of light and shade are familiar. A boy is standing on the wet sand, on the verge of the streak of light, and three little girls are on a mound of the sand, just under the shadow of one of the groynes (sic), the wet sand of course reflecting their outlines.
A Sail at Sunset (No. 269) refers to a toy vessel which a couple of urchins, more than ankle deep in a huge pool of sea water, are trying to sail. In the distance are a few wanderers on the sands, and some shrimpers in the shallow water. Numerous light clouds grace the sky, from beneath one of which the sun is peeping out.
Mr. Blanchard’s well-earned reputation will certainly not suffer from this series of subjects.
1864: BJP Jan. 1, vol. XI, #205, p.13:
New Publications.
It is but a few weeks since we noticed the publication of a new photographic Journal at Madrid, the first issued in the Spanish language. We have now to announce the establishment of a second, in the same tongue, emanating from Cadiz, entitled El Eco De La Fotografia, being the official organ of the Photographic Society of Cadiz, which Society appear to have been inaugurated on the 18th February, 1863. We are glad to find that Spain has, in the matter of photography, awakened from its slumbers, and trust that our Spanish brethren of the camera will add to our stock of experience regarding photography in hot climates. We wish the Cadiz Society and its Journal all success.
[rest omitted]
1864: BJP Jan. 15, vol. XI, #206, p.26:
Photography in Spain.—The first new Spanish journal, El Propagado de la Fotografia, published at Madrid, to which we called attention some few weeks since, appears to have been well received. The fifth number (published fortnightly) contains several original articles of merit, and a well-considered résume of papers published and events chronicled in the English and other foreign photographic journals. Mr. Sutton’s paper, read before the Glasgow Society in November last, and Mr. Smith’s account of the recently-discovered early photographs, are both reprinted. On the latter subject the editor makes some editorial remarks, to which we may probably have occasion to refer.
1864: BJP Jan. 15, vol. XI, #206, p.26-27:
Stereographs.
Views of Switzerland and Savoy.
Photographed by W. England.
Mr. England having already conducted us to the picturesque parts of Canada, familiarized us with the aspect of out-of-door life in the metropolis of France, and made us intimately acquainted with every nook and corner of the Great International Exhibition of 1862, now offers himself as our “guide, philosopher, and friend,” in making a tour through Switzerland, and a very capital guide we find him to be. We perceive, by the way, that the stereographs before us are produced “under the special patronage of the Alpine Club,” the members of which association no doubt look upon them somewhat in the same light as that in which the veteran warrior “fights his battles o’er again.” There are very many persons to whom this series will be highly acceptable, including of course all who have been and all who want to go to Switzerland; and amongst the latter how many there are who never will go there, debarred from the coveted gratification by the calls of business, by sickness or other infirmity, or by the imperative tyranny of want of means! A portion at least of these unhappy ones may now mitigate in some measure the constraint of circumstances. This time Mahomet cannot go to the mountain, so the mountain has been brought to Mahomet—the prophet, in the present instance, being symbolically representative of Brown, Jones, Robinson and Co. But it is time for us (that is to say B., J., R., and Co.) to see what mountains Mr. England has brought to us, that we may get up our store of “small talk” about those “lovely Swiss valleys and mountain peaks,” in order that we may have the better chance of winning the attention of the pretty girls with whom we hope to dance at the numerous parties to which we (B., J., R., and Co.) have been invited this winter.
No. 2 is a View on the Lake of Geneva, and
No. 6, a View of Geneva and the Lake. In both are to be seen numerous pleasure boats, with and without awnings, in waiting for occupants: one or two are being propelled over the mirror-like waters of the lake, each by a couple of sturdy rowers. Both are pleasing views, but in the last-named there is more of local interest,--the row of substantial edifices on the quay, is backed by the town on rising ground, with the outlines of the hills in the distance. In the foreground is a group of boatmen lounging on the pebbly quay, and a huge dog stretched at full length basking in the bright sunshine. One boat has a couple of slender masts, to which are attached sprit-sails; and we notice that the oars, or rather skulls, of the rowing boats are not “shipped” as they would be in England, but are hanging obliquely in the water, attached by cords to the rowlocks.
No. 13, The Castle of Chillon, is a subject with which everybody is more or less familiar, from having seen engravings and drawings of it ad infinitum; but we question whether any represent it so vividly as the stereograph before us.
No. 27, the Gorge of Sallanches, in Savoy, is one of those charming ravines with which the district abounds, with a mountain stream foaming over the rocks in a series of miniature cascades, with the luxuriant feathery vegetation clothing the rugged crags, and uniting with the sterner features to form a scene of beauty. We scarcely think the water in this picture so transparent as we could desire, and not comparable with some other specimens in this series.
We must not leave Sallanches without visiting the Church, especially as in No. 28 we find the view of the Interior. Now, excellent as is the photography, it does not strike one so forcibly until it is seen in the stereoscope, in which instrument the long perspective culminating in the high altar, the arched roof elaborately decorated with paintings of scriptural subjects, and the graceful chandeliers depending at regular intervals, show to great advantage.
Nos. 38 and 39 exhibit that wondrous phenomenon the Mer de Glace, the latter being a general view from Montanvert, the former showing as it were a portion of its intimate structure. These are certainly amongst the most interesting of the series.
No. 41, L’Aiguille de Dru, is, as its name implies, a needle-like peak, and around d it are clinging a few fleecy clouds. Similarly adorned is Le Dome de Gouté, No. 43, and in addition there is a charming thicket of fir trees in the valley.
No. 50, Mont Blanc from the Tete Noir Road, is a very trying subject for the photographer—dark green foliage in close proximity to unsullied snow; yet for all that there is but little to which we can object on the score of exposure.
A charming view is that down the long fertile valley as seen from the bank overlooking The Tower of the Old Chateau at Martigny, No. 55.
At Zermatt several of the most celebrated peaks are illustrated, including Mont Cervin, No. 65; the Matterhorn, No. 66; and Monte Rosa, No. 67; and also The Village of St. Nicholas, No. 73, in the Zermatt valley.
In No. 79 we have a view of Interlaken and the Jungfrau; and in No. 89 a most charming view of the Wetterhorn and the valley of Grindewold. No. 90 is a nearer view of the same mountain, with a chalet in the foreground.
Nos. 98 and 99 are both views of the valley of Lauterbrunnen—both beautiful, the first named especially so; and No. 103 exhibits the Stabbach Fall in the same valley.
But of the whole series of these views there is not one more exquisite—indeed we may truly assert none so exquisite—as the Lower Fall of Reichenbach, No. 104, which is a perfect triumph of photographic art. The graceful composition of the subject, the beauty of the foliage, the transparency of the falling water and meandering stream, the veil of fine spray thrown up by the cascade, and the telling atmospheric effects, combine to form a whole that few will fail to appreciate.
We shall conclude our reference to particular slides by naming No. 121, the Chateau of Ober-Often, on the lake of Thun; No. 122, Panorama of Thun; and No. 127, the Suspension Bridge at Fribourg, as being particularly noteworthy—the panorama of Thun is so in a pre-eminent degree.
To say that Mr. England has worked with his usual skill is but according faint justice to him; he has done more, he has brought his usual skill to bear upon the various improvements in the practice of photography that have been developed during the last twelve months. As we have already hinted in our notice of some of the slides, he has had to content with some trying subjects, and we have no hesitation in pronouncing these views on the whole superior to any of the same districts that we have had an opportunity of examining. There are no glaring white patches supposed to represent snow, but masses of soft pearly greys, produced b y the delicately-tinted shading on the white surface; no leaden skies, as we have too often been obliged to b e contented with in snow scenes; yet the skies are not erroneously whiter than the snow, but bear their due gradation of tone. Here and there the surface reflection of some water in the valleys is a trifle too hard for effect; but when this fault occurs it is when heavy masses of green foliage are in close proximity. In a word, the subjects are well chosen, the execution has done justice to them, and the photography is as nearly perfection as possible.
1864: BJP Feb. 1, vol. XI, #207, p.52: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
William Shakspare.—In anticipation of the forthcoming festivities in honour of the tercentenary birthday of the world’s great dramatist, Mr. Samuel Highley has made arrangements for the publication of a series of very interesting views connected with the principal events of Shakspeare’s life, from the negatives of Me. Ernest Edwards, viz.:--1. View of Shakspeare’s House from the street.—w. Ditto from the garden.—3. Exterior, showing room in which Shakspeare was born.—4. Interior of Shakspeare’s Birthroom.—5. Porch of Stratford Church, wherein he was christened.—6. East end of ditto.--=7. The Grammar School, whereat Shakspeare was educated.—8. Kitchen or Keeping Room in Shakspeare’s House.—9. Ann Hathaway’s Cottage.—10. Charlecot Hall, the residence of Sir Walter Lucy, the scene of the Poaching Story.—11. The Old Globe Theatre, from an authentic picture.—12. Picture, showing the arrangement of the stage in Shakspeare’s time.—13. Old House in Stratford, showing the condition of the town in Shakspeare’s time.—14. The excavations at New Place when Shakspeare died.—15. The Monument in the Church at Stratford-upon-Avon.—16. The Monument in Westminster Abbey.—18. Drop scene, containing groups of the characters from his most celebrated plays, from a curious design. “Take him all in all, we ne’er shall look upon his like again.”
1864: BJP Mar. 1, #207, p.85: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Notes of the Month. [Not all copied]
Mr. Warren De la Rue—whose able services in the cause of astronomical photography we all have in remembrance—has in the past month been elected President of the Royal Astronomical Society. It is not generally known that there are few meetings of this Society which do not bring forth something as interesting to photographers as to astronomers.
Some interesting photographs of very curious illuminated MS. exhibited at the meeting of the Archæological Institute (February 5th) called much attention to the value of the art thus applied. A number of interesting photographs were also exhibited at a meeting of the British Archæological Association of some recently-discovered Roman antiquities, and of the Bartlow Hills, against the destruction of which, by the proposed line of Great Eastern Railway, so much public feeling has been expressed. The above societies would do well to be at some pains in gathering and preserving all such photographs, as in many cases we have known valuable negatives of rare antiquities taken and destroyed before their existence was properly made know. Before quitting the learned societies we may add—as showing how universally our art is appreciated in its applications—that Mr. Sidebotham exhibited at the Literary and Philosophical Society, Manchester, what was regarded as the “earliest figure of a now extinct bird,” the dodo.
Some photographs have been received from Munich of an antique statue of Sappho, recently discovered at a place in the Island of Cyprus, called anciently “Lithium.” It is supposed to be a specimen of the Cyprian school of sculpture, and is very beautiful. R.A.S.
1864: BJP Mar. 1, #207, p.85: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Waifs and Strays. [Selection]
--New Publications.—A very large photograph of Thackeray, said to be the latest taken, will be shortly published by Mr. Ernest Edwards.—Mr. De la Rue has recently issued a series of photographs of Balmoral Castle, taken by Mr. S. Thompson.—Mr. Eastham, of Manchester, is issuing a series of large photographs under the title of British Architectural Gems. The prints, 18 by 16 inches in size, are from tannin plates.
--The “Art –Journal” on Painted Photographs.—On two opposite pages of the last number of this journal appear the two opposite and following statements. Speaking of some photographs of Venice which have been painted—“These pictures, as we advisedly entitle them, are not only very beautiful in themselves, but they also demonstrate how much may be accomplished through an alliance between photography and painting. Without a doubt, the success of the colouring in this instance will encourage other able and experienced artists to emulate the example of their Venetian brother, and to produce similar views both at home and in other countries.” The other quotation says of a large painted photograph from Mr. Calderon’s picture of The British Embassy in Paris on the day of the Massacre of St. Bartholemew—“It fails in colour, as might have been expected, the heaviness inseparable from photographic printing being a barrier to the light and transparent colouring of the original picture.”
1864: BJP March 15, vol. XI, #210, p.99-100:
Stereographs.
English Scenery. Photographed by Francis Bedford.
Chester: Catherall & Prichard.
In this series are comprised most of the principal attractions in Leamington, Warwick, Stoneleigh, Kenilworth, Coventry, Stratford-on-Avon, Charlecote, Cheltenham, and Tewkesbury, and as this is par excellence the year for doing especial honour to the memory of England’s greatest poet—“the divine Williams,” as Punch asserts that our Gallic neighbours call him—we will commence our notice with the Stratford-on-Avon views; and with these where can we begin more appropriately than with
No. 178, The Room in Which Shakspeare [sic] Was Born, a squalid one enough at the best of times, with its low ceiling and bare plastered walls, with wooden beams of the most uncompromising ugliness. In a corner of the room, on a little round three-clawed table of the most common kind, is a plaster bust of the poet. On one side are a couple of ancient high-backed chairs, and on the other a wooden desk, with carved ends. The light from the window shows the plaster of the walls scratched and scored and scribbled over with ignoble names. It is all very well now in a picture, as a foil that makes the genius of the poet seem even more brilliant by comparison; but it must have been a disagreeable place enough in fact, as we should now regard it.
Of Shakspeare’s House, in Henley Street, there are two views—one from the street, No. 176. and one from the garden, No. 177; but, apart from the association therewith connected, there is but little interest in them. These specimens are not taken in Mr. Bedford’s usually happy manner, being far too hard to please him as an artist; and this defect more or less applies to all the out-of-door Stratford views. The Church from the N.E., No. 170, shadowed by trees, is a fine old edifice, approached on the north side by a pleasant Avenue, No. 171. In the Interior of the Chancel, No. 173, is seen Shakspeare’s Monument, just above the right side of the chancel door, the monument itself being shown on a larger scale in Nos. 174 and 175. The fine old stained-glass window is a prominent feature in No. 173, and makes one long for the time when we may hope, with some chance of its not being entirely in vain, for photography in natural colours. It is a pity that the artist found it needful to tilt the camera somewhat in order to include the special parts of his subject, as the architectural lines are rather distorted on the margin. Two views of Ann Hathaway’s Cottage at Shottery—one from the garden and the other from the road—Nos. 183 and 184, fitly conclude the Shakspeare subjects.
In interiors Mr. Bedford is always at home and always welcome, and nowhere more so than in his truly beautiful interiors at Warwick Castle. What pleasant memories are called up while looking over this series! We once chanced upon the castle, not by design, but by accident, and we were, as we afterwards learnt, most fortunate in our visit; for we were permitted to roam at will undisturbed for some hours alone, where there is plenty to be seen that is worth seeing. No. 86 is a View in the Great Hall, with its marbled floor and quaintly-carved furniture, the huge antlers and massive plate-chest, the armour and weapons. On our right hand, just out of the picture, we recollect the gaping fire-place, with the enormous andirons, upon which half a tree might be laid as fuel. In a room leading out of the Great Hall we have the Kenilworth Buffet, No. 90, a finely-carved piece of oaken furniture, which we saw and admired in the Great International Exhibition of 1851, in Hyde Park, as well as at Warwick Castle. Over the sideboard are several fine old paintings and other articles of interest in various parts of the room.
The Dining Room, No. 88, is remarkable for a beautifully-carved chimney-glass frame, and the ornate ceiling reflected in the glass. The Red Drawing Room, No. 91, is a warm and snug-looking room, the panels of which are coloured red, with white moulding,--A Turkey carpet on the floor, old paintings on the walls, a fine cabinet of antique China ware, and, in fact, a perfect wealth of buhl (sic), Japan and China ware; no gaudy glitter, but plenty of solid wealth, not only in money value but in art also.
What a contrast to the preceding is The Cedar Drawing Room, No. 93, with its polished oak floor, elaborately-carved furniture, with gilding and embroidered velvet upholstery, and all the etceteras befitting the state of a noble house on state occasions!
Warwick Castle, from the River side, No. 65, is a lovely piece of scenery, but here again we have too hard a sky, or, to speak more accurately, no sky at all, which sadly mars the effect (still fine thought) produced by the castle surrounded with a variety of vegetable wealth, including the graceful boughs of the silver birch, and all reflected in the glassy surface of the tranquil river beneath.
In the View from the Balcony, No. 83, the sky is far better, but the scene itself is not nearly so fine.
The Interior of the Beauchamp Chapel, No. 62, is a splendid subject in Mr. Bedford’s best style, the sunlight streaming in upon a complete affluence of carving and sculpture, backed by a fine stained glass window.
No. 55 is a view of the Monument of the Earl and Countess of Leicester.
Of the Kenilworth views we prefer No. 134, The Banqueting Hall, and No. 119, the old carved Chimney-Piece in the Gatehouse.
The View from the Garden Seat at Guy’s Cliff, No. 33, is a beautiful landscape composition, but with too hard a sky.
The Devil’s Chimney at Leckhampton, Cheltenham, No. 228, is one of those singular rock formations which is sure to be honoured by the country folks with a special name. In this we have no fault to find with the sky and distance, so that we feel it to be all the more provoking when we get a piece of chalk instead.
Another Cheltenham celebrity is Sevensprings, the Source of the Thames, No. 230, a well-executed photograph; but, as touching the little, not to say insignificant streamlet, we are tempted to exclaim—“What great events (!) from trifling causes spring.”
Of Tewkesbury Abbey the most interesting illustration is No. 244, The Remains of the Cloisters; and with this we must bring our notice to a close, as we have already overstepped the space that we can properly afford to it.
Of the various subjects contained in the preceding series we are convinced none will be more popular than those connected with Warwick Castle.
1864: BJP April 1, #211, p.117: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Photographic Exhibition.
The Photographic Society of London will open their Tenth Exhibition of Photographs about the middle of May next, in the Gallery of the Society of Female Artists, 48, Pall Mall. The Exhibition will remain open until the second week in August.
I. The Exhibition will be restricted to members of the Society, with the following exceptions:--
1. Those wishing to exhibit may do so on becoming Honorary Members for the
term of the Exhibition being open, on the payment of a fee of one guinea.
2. Foreigners may exhibit, free from any other restriction than that their contributions shall be approved of by the Committee of Selection.
II. Every description of picture will be received which is the result of the photographic art alone; but pictures from painted or touched negatives, and also touched and painted positives, will not be exhibited. A duplicate picture (unmounted), for the use of the Committee of Selection, must accompany each proof sent for exhibition.
III. It is necessary that the margins of all framed photographs should be kept in moderate space, viz., not exceeding three inches for the largest, and two inches for the smaller, exclusive of frames. Exhibitors, however, are recommended to place small photographs grouped together in one frame.
IV. Pictures which have already been publicly exhibited in London will not be received.
V. Nothing must be written on any photographic mount or frame, excepting the name of the photographer, which may be done in pencil.
VI. Prize Medals will be awarded for—
1. The best portrait or portraits.
2. The best landscape or landscapes.
3. The best group or groups, or composition or compositions, each from a single
negative.
4. The best architectural subject or subjects.
5. The best printed impression from a photograph transferred to metal, stone, or
other material, and absolutely untouched.
VII. Exhibitors desirous of selling their pictures will be permitted to make arrangements for that purpose with the attendant in charge of the Exhibition.
VIII. Members will have the privilege of free admission, and of the personal introduction of a friend; honorary members and foreign exhibitors for themselves only.
IX. All works intended for exhibition must be delivered at the Gallery, free of all charge, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 19th and 11th of May. Each picture must e numbered, with name and address, together with price, if intended for sale.
X. The selection of pictures, hanging, award of Prize Medals, and all matters connected with the Exhibition will be conducted by the following Committee, who have been appointed to act for such purposes:--James Glaisher, Esq., V.P.; Lieut.-Col. Stuart Wortley, V.P.; Joseph Denham, F.S.A.; C. Thurston Thompson; and Dr. Diamond.
By order of the Council,
Hugh W. Diamond, Secretary
1864: BJP April 1, #211, p.122: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Waifs and Strays. [selection]
--The French Photographic Society, Paris, we now learn, will open its exhibition early in May. Touched photographs are wisely to be excluded.
--Shakspeare Tercentenary.—A microphotograph of the house in which Shakspeare was born has just been issued by Mr. A. Reeves, of 257, Tottenham Court Road, London.
--Photography and Archæology.—Photography has recently been of invaluable service to the archæologists. The Roman remains discovered at Wycombe and Chester are now exhibited on the walls of the meeting room of the Society of Antiquaries, and they attract great attention.
--New Photographic Publications.—Messrs. Marion and Co. have issued the first monthly parts of two new publications—one devoted to photographs of illustrious and eminent personages, and the other to similar portraits of theatrical celebrities; the photographs are by Mayall. The same firm ha[s] also published a very valuable series of photographs from the original bas reliefs of Thorwaldsen.
--The Infallible Witness.—In the great will case of “Cresswell versus Jackson,” which commencing on the 20th of January did not terminate until the 1st of last month, the testator’s handwriting was tested by taking a negative, prints of which being placed before the court and the jury by the aid of powerful magnifying-glasses, minute but important points of difference between the two signatures were readily recognised by all parties.
1864: BJP April 15, #212, p.138: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Waifs and Strays. [selection]
--The Architectural Exhibition.—A variety of fine photographs take their place among the attractions of this year’s Exhibition.
--Garibaldi and the Photographers.—The Telegraph says:--“If There are few persons, however humble, about Mr. Seeley’s domain who have not grown familiar with General Garibaldi, or who will not miss his well known figure, grave measured voice, and kindly smile. Photographers alone he has shunned with a mortal dread; and if ever he runs away from anything it will be from a focused lens. One pertinacious practitioner, with an apparatus on wheels, has implored permission to lie in wait for the General at the lodge, and catching him as he came forth, to get him ‘only for five seconds’ in an attitude. Others of a higher grade in the art of photography have resorted to expedients almost as low; and, at length, the object of their importunities has asked, ‘Can’t they all be done at once?’ This being impracticable, he has succumbed in a single instance, but no earthly consideration could induce him to let his head be fixed in the mechanical ‘rest.’ The photographer selected was Mr. Mayall. The Times says:--“Favoured by as fine a light as a photographer could wish for, Mr. Mayall overcame the shortcomings incidental to outdoor operations, and produced a highly satisfactory portrait.”
--Mr. Glaisher’s Last Balloon Ascent.—This enterprising æronaut, accompanying Mr. Coxwell, made his eighteenth ascent on the 6th inst., from Woolwich Arsenal. The balloon left terra firma at 4h. 7m. p.m., and, from Mr. Glaisher’s letter in The Times, we learn that in three minutes it was 1,000 feet high, and moved very evenly upward, at the rate of 1,000 ft. in three or four minutes, to the height of 11,000 ft. at 4h. 38m.; it descended at the rate of 500 ft. per minute, till they were within 1,500 ft. of the earth at 4h. 59m.; they then descended very slowly, were 1,000 ft. high at 5h. 4m., and reached the ground at 5h. 18m. Mr. Glaisher says:--“At the height of 500 ft. the air was very misty, and the view very limited, but Woolwich Dockyard, the town of Woolwich, the river under us, the numerous shipping, with so many upturned faces from their decks, formed a very pleasing and interesting sight. The mist increased in density as we rose. --- At 4,500 ft. we saw the sun faintly, but there was more cloud above; at 5,000 ft. the sun shone very brightly, and it was quite white cloud dazzling in its brightness, extending without a break or irregularity in its surface as far as we could see all round—that is, for more than 100 miles on all sides. Near to us on the cloud, on the side opposite to the sun, was a bright oval halo of immense extent, in the centre of which was situated the shadow of the balloon and car, but without prismatic colours; this all appeared to revolved with us, for it was constant, and we knew we were turning round by the sun now shining at our backs and then in our faces; at the greatest elevation (11,000 ft.) there was perfect repose, the sky was without a cloud, and of a beautiful deep blue.” Mr. Coxwell, fearing that they were drifting out to sea, “determined to take a dip downwards without delay, before attempting a higher elevation, so that if we found ourselves over water we might have gas enough to keep up for some time. --- We caught sight of the earth, at the height of 2,500 ft.; we expected to find ourselves over Essex, but hills and a beautiful undulating country presented themselves, and it was evident we were at fault. Mr. Coxwell then decided upon anchoring, and we did so on the outskirts of a pine plantation, near Sevenoaks, in Kent, on the estate of the Marquis Camden (Wilderness Park) --- There were 2 ¾ grains of water in a cubic foot of air near the ground, about two grains in the cloud, and about one grain only above the cloud. The humidity of the air, therefore, increased from the earth to the centre of the cloud, where it was all but saturated, and decreased rapidly above the cloud, where it was very dry. No zone was detected by Schonbein, Moffat, or Lowe’s papers during the whole time the balloon was in the air. The lines in the solar spectrum were very numerous and well defined. The spectrum itself was very long. --- The results of this ascent are remarkable. They establish the prevalence of totally opposite currents of the air within two miles of the earth, as also temperatures of the air actually warmer than on the earth at heights exceeding 8,000 ft., where usually the temperature is from 30 deg. To 40 deg. Lower than on the earth, constituting the results of this ascent as differing from all others, and as one by no means unimportant in the series.” Fortunately, so gentle was the descent of the ærial monster that not an instrument was injured.
1864: BJP May 2, vol. XI, #213, p.151-152:
Where To Go With The Camera. Localities in Yorkshire.
There is no intention under the above title to offer anything more pretentious than a few remarks, somewhat loosely strung together, concerning one or two localities in Yorkshire which in their way are sufficiently picturesque to be worthy of photographic representation.
Judging, however, from the manner of many who go out for the purpose of taking photographs of natural scenery, before saying anything of these localities it may not be altogether useless or uninteresting to inquire wherein the work of the landscape photographer differs from that of the landscape painter; or how far the ends of landscape photography are identical with those of landscape painting. The first volume of the Modern Painter contains this statement:--“The two great ends of landscape painting are the representation of facts and thoughts.” And the facts here referred to are defined to be “any natural objects whatsoever” which, being represented, “induce in the spectator’s mind the faithful conception” of the “facts” themselves, without at all affecting him save with a delightful sense of their beauty. The “thoughts” are explained to mean the story which natural objects may be made to tell, or the truths they may be enforced to teach, when represented by a greater artist. And natural objects thus represented “induce in the spectator’s mind” not only the faithful conception of the “facts,” but give to him “new ideas and unknown feelings,” leaving him “more than delighted—ennobled and instructed under the sense of having not only beheld a new scene, but having held communion with a new mind, and having been endowed for a time with the keen perception and the impetuous emotions of a nobler and more penetrating intelligence.”
Accepting the above as a correct definition of the ends of landscape painting, how shall the ends of landscape photography be truly defined if not in the same words? But it may be objected that, as photography is quite incapable of expressing the colour—which is a very important quality—of objects, its representation of them must fail to induce in the spectator’s mind a faithful conception of the “facts” themselves, and therefore the ends of the two arts can not be identical.
In answer to this objection, take a passage or two from the work on painting before referred to:-- “Now, by Sock’s definition, only bulk, figure, situation, and motion or rest of solid parts are primary qualities (of bodies); hence all truths of colour sink at once into the second rank. He, therefore, who has neglected a truth of form for a truth of colour has neglected a greater truth for a less one; and that colour is indeed a most important characteristic of objects will be further evident on the slightest consideration. The colour of plants is constantly changing with the season, and of everything with the quality of light falling on it; but the nature and essence of the thing are independent of those changes. An oak is an oak whether green with spring or red with winter. A dahlia is a dahlia whether it be yellow or crimson; but let one curve of the petals, one groove of the stamens be wanting, and the flower ceases to be the same. Let the roughness of the bark and the angles of the boughs be smoothed or diminished and the oak ceases to be an oak. If we look at Nature carefully we shall find that her colours are in a state of perpetual confusion and indistinctness; while her forms, as told by light and shade, are invariably clear, distinct, and speaking. The observations we have made are sufficient to prove that the artist who sacrifices or forgets a truth of form in the pursuit of a truth of colour sacrifices what is definite to what is uncertain, and what is essential to what is accidental.”
If the truth of these statements be granted then the identity of the two arts cannot be denied; for it appears that, in order to induce in the mind of the spectator a faithful conception of the “facts,” the essential characteristics of the “objects” must be correctly represented, and these are precisely the qualities which by photography may be represented with greater accuracy than by any other means. And although photographic pictures lack the charm and loveliness of colour which must ever give the precedence to a great painting, they are, nevertheless, grand—the treatment being pictorial—in form and chiaroscuro, “that perfect and harmonious unity of outline with light and shade by which all the parts are projections and proportions of a body are fully explained to the eye.” Then assuming that photography is capable of representing “facts,” and that it may be made to represent them in different ways, so as to express “thoughts,” or otherwise, depending of course upon the powers of the artist, it may justly be concluded that the work of the landscape photographer differs not at all from that of the landscape painter, except in the material used, because the production of a picture by means of a camera and chemical reactions demands the exercise of exactly the same faculties of mind and feeling as does the production of a picture by means of a canvas, pigments, and brushes. The essence of the work is mental, and, therefore, entirely apart from the means employed.
From this inquiry it may be gathered that the common practice of hurrying over districts of fine natural scenery for the special purpose of making the largest number of negatives in the shortest possible space of time, is nothing but vanity and misguided zeal. A single production having the qualities which constitute a picture, however much time may have been spent in taking it, is far more valuable intrinsically than any number of photographs which are the mere results of chance.
It may be gathered, moreover, that the production of a photographic picture depends in nowise upon any trick or secret formula or particular form of lens or cameras, but altogether on the amount of knowledge and artistic taste which is brought to bear upon these things. Therefore, the sooner recipes for making pictures are rated at their true value by photographers, the sooner will the dignity of their art be entirely asserted, and the critics who have taken the advantage of the infancy of the art to inveigh against it be deprived of an excuse for their malice.
But to speak of the localities. Besides the venerable old ruins, the crumbling forms of which are slowly changing from day to day under the wasting energies of decay, there are other places of less interest which are not so well known; and it is to some of these that attention will at present more especially be directed. Lees, though it unhappily possesses no very striking features of artistic beauty, has nevertheless in its immediate neighbourhood some objects of historic interest worthy and capable of photographic representation. The chief are Temple Newsham, Adel Church, and Kirkstall abbey. Temple Newsham, the birth-place of Lord Darnley, is about four miles distant from Leeds. The house externally is not particularly picturesque, being a plain geometrical-looking building, with two wings which form a court; but the grounds qare very beautiful, especially the great avenue. There is a splendid picture-gallery, containing works by the most celebrated artists. An omnibus runs from Leeds to Whitkirk, which is about half-a-mile from the house. Adel church is situated about five miles from Leeds, on the Otley road. It is a queer little edifice, said by archaeologists to be about as old as the Norman conquest. As a whole the church and surrounding scenery are too tame to form a good picture, but the doorway on the south side is very picturesque, and a fine specimen of the best style of Norman architecture. There is, unfortunately, no regular means of conveyance to this place; omnibuses, however, run to Headingley, which is nearly two and a-half miles from Adel.
But the Abbey at Kirkstall is by far the most beautiful and interesting object in the vicinity of Leeds. This fine old ruin is situated in the bottom of what has been formerly a most lovely valley, through which the river Aire still runs, close by the precincts of the ruin; but not clear and sparkling now as the imagination can picture it in days of yore, when jolly monks and portly friars strolled along its banks at eventide, or basked thereon in the noonday warmth, undisturbed by anything save the sweet warbling of little birds and the soothing strains which floated from the sacred edifice. The outline of the ruin, notwithstanding its present smoked appearance, is exceedingly beautiful from many points of view, and there are numerous bits of detail which make charming little pictures; but an artist will, of course, make his own selection. In addition to trains, which run every hour, there is an omnibus to Kirkstall. Mr. Depledge, who has charge of the Abbey, provides excellent refreshment for visitors at a very reasonable charge.
From Leeds there is railway communication to almost every part of Yorkshire; thus many picturesque places may be reached in a short time and at comparatively little cost. The “Brimham Rocks,” probably one of the wildest and most extraordinary scenes in the whole country, is within three hours run by train by going directly to Dacre Bank, a small station about five miles from Pateley Bridge, and from thence up to the rocks by such means of locomotion as fortune may provide for that purpose. The distance from Dacre Bank to the rocks is two and a-half miles, and all up hill, and the available conveyances in these parts not of the choicest description. But this is a matter of little moment, because every photographer who is at all enthusiastic in the pursuit of his art will regard with the sublimest indifference any little singularity, either in the form of a chariot or the points of a steed that may happen to be yoked to it. If the wheels will only turn round, an d the animal not insist on making too many solemn pauses for contemplation on the road, the vehicle will be hailed as a sufficient one, and received with thankfulness.
The Brimham Rocks, weird and fantastical in form, lie scattered in strange confusion over many acres of heather—a wild, inhospitable-looking scene; but it is so only in appearance, for let but the heather be gently pushed aside and the tiny bilberry will be found nestling underneath, with a bloom on its purple skin tender beyond expression. There are numerous fine views on this moor; the taste of the artist, however, will be the best guide in selecting them when once on the spot. Returning to Dacre Bank the excursion may, if agreeable, be continued to Pateley Bridge, where very comfortable lodgings and substantial fare may be had at the “crown,” near the railway station. There are several places at Pateley which are well worth a visit with the camera. Ravensgill—a very prettily-varied ravine, full of great boulders beautifully marked with mosses and lichens, extending form the bottom of the valley up to the high moore—is about three-quarters of a mile from the bridge. Ramsgill—the birth-place of Eugene Aram—is five miles higher up the Nid valley, and in character very much resembles what has just been described. Two or three fine days might be well spent in this locality. On returning, Knaresborough and a few other places of interest may conveniently be visited by getting off at the Harrogate station. It is better to enter Knaresborough by the road, because a charming view of the chief features of the town is presented from the bridge. The most picturesque parts are the Castle Hill, and the walk from the bridge past the dropping well, along the river side. Amongst the other places about Harrogate deserving of notice are the Plumpton Rock, about five miles off on the Spofforth road; the Great Almes Cliff, also five miles from Harrotgate; and the Little Almes Cliff, which is three miles off in an opposite direction. W. Hanson
1864: BJP May 2, vol. XI, #213, p.158: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Notes of the Month [selection]
The two stirring events of the month—the great Italian Patriot’s visit to England, and the Tercentenary of our glorious poet, Shakspeare—have both created no little stir among photographers. Everybody who had any negatives associated more or less intimately or remotely with Shakspeare or with Garibaldi hastened to print and to publish. Shakspeare’s house; Shaksperian relics; Shakspeare paintings, drawings, and engravings; Shakspeare’s willo; Shakspeare’s autographs; Shakspeare’s monument; Shakspeare’s country; all the supposed portraits of Shakspeare, and portraits of eminent Shaksperian actors; the first folio edition of his works, and even photographed drawings intended to burlesque those works—all came crowding into the market, and all found buyers. So the Garibaldi portraits which were one week selling at half-a-crown sold the next week at half-a-guinea, and from being plentiful and in comparatively small demand, the great General’s album portraits suddenly became so really scarce that queer copies of bad engravings, and even hundreds of portraits of a certain worthy well-known in the locality of gray’s Inn Lane, Holborn—who personated with some degree of success the outward seeming of that noble fellow, Garibaldi—found eager purchasers, &c.
At a recent meeting of the Astronomical Society, the Astronomer Royal, in his remarks on the transit of Venus in 1862, advanced two diagrams showing the hemispheres of the earth turned to the sun at the moments of ingress and egress, as seen at the centre of the earth, and the places where the observations of the transit are possible, when Mr. De La Rue, President, pointed out how the introduction of photography would render valuable observations of the transit where neither ingress nor egress could be seen. The portion of the chord comprised between any two registered positions of the planet on the sun’s disc would furnish data for the exact determination of the relative positions of the sun’s centre and the planet’s centre for any epoch during the transit at the several places of observation. The Astronomer Royal warmly applauded this valuable suggestion. R.S.A.
1864: BJP May 2, vol. XI, #213, p.158: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Waifs and Strays [selection]
--Colonel Menotti Garibaldi gave a sitting at the studio of the Stereoscopic Company, in Regent-street, on the 19th ult. The portrait is to be published.
--Garibaldi.—During the patriot’s visit to the Royal Arsenal, at Woolwich, he was induced to sit to Mr. Spiller and his assistants for some small and large photographs, all of which, it is said, were very successfully obtained.
--The “Shakspeare Gallery.”—This celebrated collection of engravings, published in 1802, at the price of sixty guineas, and representing some of the principal scenes in the great poet’s plays, has been reproduced in photography by Mr. Ayling.
--Art Photographs.-- Messrs. Ross and Thomson, of Edinburgh, have just issued a collection of their small subject photographs, embracing characteristic figures—Newhaven fishwomen, &c., groups of children, and composition groups—forming pictures which tell a story.
--Shaksperian Publications.—The earliest edition of Shakspeare’s Sonnets has been reproduced by photozincography. Photography has also reproduced the great poet’s will. The Stereoscopic Company has issued a dozen stereographs of spots interesting in connection with the poet’s life, and a comic photographic version of “the seven ages.”
--Photographs of the Moon.—Dr. Draper’s instrument, by which his fine photographs of the moon have been executed, has a silvered glass speculum of sixteen inches, with a focal length of thirteen feet, and, it is said, also possesses the peculiar advantage of a clockwork motion, which drives the collodion plate while the telescope itself remains at rest.
--The South Kensington Negatives.—These have been transferred to Messrs. Chapman and Hall (we suppose for a proper consideration), by whom the prints will in future be printed and published, the authorities having resolved to abandon their sale altogether. Private enterprise is, therefore, after all, left in full possession of the field about the possession of which there was so much stir a year or two ago. Messrs. Chapman and Hall will shortly issue their catalogue of these valuable photographs.
--Female Photographers.—Confounding the Society of Female Artists with the Photographic Society, inconsequence of the relative Exhibitions of these two Societies being held in the same rooms, the Scientific American says:--“In England there are many women engaged in the art, both professionally and as amateurs. The Exhibition Gallery of Female Photographic Artists, Pall Mall, London, is one of the finest establishments in that city.” Those who know the real character of this little gallery will find this curiously amusing.
--The First Folio Edition of Shakspeare.—We have already informed our readers that this has been photographed, photolithographed, and published by Day and Son. Several of our contemporaries have pointed out as errors inherent in photographic operations sundry blunders in these re-reproductions, resulting simply from a want of care and intelligence in those who executed the work. The letter “e,” for instance, frequently appears as “c,” in consequence of the fine upstroke of the former having been lost in the printing; and similar errors, arising from similar causes, may be found in other parts of the work. Part II. Of this most important and interesting work is on the eve of publication.
1864: BJP May 2, vol. XI, #213, p.159: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Foreign Correspondence [selection]
Paris, April 26th, 1864.
Those who visited the last Exhibition at London will probably remember the photographs exhibited by Dr. Duchenne, of Boulogne, and which represented the play of the different muscles under the action of electricity. Dr. Duchenne has followed up his interesting physiological studies, and has continued to employ photography for the illustration of his medical system. He has just presented to the Academy of Sciences a new album, which demonstrates the utility of this application. ON bringing the muscles of the face into separate play by means of electricity, Dr. Duchenne discovered that they had each their own movement, giving to the physiognomy a peculiar expression. Thus, when operating upon a subject of very limited intelligence, and whose face was in general quite expressionless, he succeeded in obtaining a large number of expressions representing the principal state of the mind, and that without the subject’s having the least consciousness of the feelings which his physiognomy was made to portray. These images are not only interesting to savants; they may be very serviceable to artists by giving them the exact movements of the muscles in a given situation, and may enable them to represent with greater ease and perfection the human physiognomy, in which all the passions of the soul are so visibly indicated.
[portion not copied]
Judging from what we hear, the Photographic Exhibition at Vienna, which opens on the 1st of May, promises to be one of the most interesting and complete that has yet taken place. At the Franco-Spanish Exhibition at Bayonne, the new art will be equally well represented. Its place is reserved in the section of the fine arts, which is a homage at length paid to its progress. It figures side by side with painting, engraving, and lithography.
1864: BJP May 2, vol. XI, #213, p.161-2: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
The Forthcoming Exhibition of the London Photographic Society.
To the Editor.
Sir,--The Photographic Society ahs announced the place and conditions of its next Exhibition. With reference to the former—the room of the Society of Female Artists—I only wish it had been both more roomy and better lighted for the purpose. To get a sufficiently attractive variety of productions in so small a space will be very difficult. With reference to the latter there are some conditions which I think very objectionable. The exclusion of “touched” pictures is a step often talked about, and at last, it is to be hoped, really intended; but the exclusion of painted photographs—representing as they do a very important and most artistic application of the art—is, from every point of view, a mistake. No less a mistake is that of excluding the most important of all the art’s artistic applications, viz., reproduction, from competition for such honours as are to be awarded in the shape of five silver medals. “Composition” photography is also excluded from competition, because I suppose it demands artistic skill and knowledge in addition to those simply mechanical qualities to the perfection of which this Society seems desirous of confining its efforts. In reference to the time chosen I again think the Council wrong. Hitherto the Exhibitions of this Society have been mainly supported by photographers, which support can hardly be expected in the bright, long days and the London season, when the Royal academy will be holding forth its most powerful counter-attractions, and out-door amusements are most in vogue. Moreover, I may as well finish my grumble by adding that I do not like the bazaar-like charge for space: it is neither dignified nor justifiable. If it be intended to coerce photographers into becoming members of the Society, instead of making the Society so valuable in other respects that photographers would be only too glad to join it voluntarily, it is but poor policy; and if it exclude talented amateurs and meritorious but poor professionals—as it most probably will—it is so much the less valuable as a means of advancing and encouraging the art. We shall be likely to say of an Exhibition thus got together, “Herein photography is asserted to be purely mechanical, and herein are represented not the best works of the best photographers, but the best works of the photographers who can afford to pay.”: As the showman of the song says—“Get away all you nasty, ragged, dirty little boys, wot ain’t got no money, and make room for them nice, clean little boys wot has got their pennies ready for to pay. Walk in! walk in! only” one guinea a year, and two guineas admission fee, or so much per foot for wall space. “Walk in! walk in!”
I am, yours, &C. Grumbler.
(We like all sides to have a fair hearing, therefore insert the preceding; but, so far from agreeing with the views expressed, our own are mostly opposed to them. If a mistake has been made in the time of the year for such an exhibition, we apprehend that no time would be favourable. The Society would have gladly procured larger and better rooms if they had been obtainable in a suitable situation. Our views about painted photographs and reproductions coincide entirely with those of the Council of the Photographic Society; and much as we admire “composition” proofs when executed as Robinson and Rejlander do them, we think the writer of The Other Side, published in our last issue, made out a very fair case against the offer of a medal for such works. In our opinion, the medals as prizes are all mistakes and impertinencies, and so long as they are persisted in, will cause jealousies and heartburnings without end. Lastly: we differ in toto from the view taken by our correspondent of the charge to non-members. Why should one who never assists the Society in any way ask for free space to exhibit his wares, in the expectation of increased business for himself without the expense of advertising? If he were a member he would not grumble, and an amateur would not care a pin about exhibiting or not.—Ed.)
1864: BJP May 16, vol. XI, #214, p.177: [transcribed from vol.; no copy]
Waifs and Strays [selection]
--Russian Photographic Journal.—A new photographic journal in the Russian language has recently made its appearance.
--Photo-Sculpture.—M. Claudet has now introduced this new application of photographic art into England, and is practicing it professionally.
--Art-Photography.—Mr. Redgrave is engaged in compiling a catalogue of all the pictures, variously dispersed, which form the Royal Collections. The catalogue is to be illustrated by photographs, of which 1,000 have been already taken.
--Buried Photographs.—It is the fashion now, when the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of new churches and chapels is performed, not only to bury some vessel containing the date, &c., as usual, but also to bury photographs of those who play the more important parts in such ceremonies.
--The Photographer of Lookout Mountain.—Not long after the battle of Lookout Mountain one of our artists, not present at the battle, visited the spot on his way from the Mississippi, and ascending to the spot where the rebels so long had their flag waving and their cannon thundering at Chattanooga, was no less surprised than amused to find on the then silent summit, which Hooker’s men had so gallantly scaled amid fire and flame, the tent of a travelling photographer, who had pitched his tent here with the true enterprise of a wandering son of New England, to take portraits and include a view of the famous scenery. The view had been for some time ready for use, but we have now to add another sketch, sent to us by an officer of the 11th corps, showing the sad close of the career of the photographer, Mr. Wm. F. Porter, who, while placing a lady and gentleman, lose his foothold and fell down the precipice, a distance of some 200 feet. –Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.
1864: BJP June 15, vol. XI, #216, p.209: [transcribed from volume, no copy]
Exhibition.
The Exhibition of the French Photographic Society at the Palais de L’Industrie. (Second Notice) [1st Notice p. 188]
The collection of six pictures exhibited by Mr. H. P. Robinson, of Leamington, justly forms one of the special features of this photographic display, as there is nothing similar to them in the Exposition. The pictures are entitled Autumn—The Deer Park, Stoneleigh—Somebody’s Coming—The Interior of a Study—May Gatherers—and Portraits. The general effects of each of the two larger pictures, Autumn and The Deer Park, is exceedingly good; the atmosphere and the distance are very beautifully rendered, and the chiaro-oscuro is almost perfection itself. It is very interesting to observe the relation existing between nature in The Deer Park and art in Autumn; the same negatives having been used for both, with the exception of the group and its accessories in the latter, which are printed in. The upper left-hand portion of Autumn is the least well done, the two trees being too evidently superposed; but where the general excellence is so remarkable, we can scarcely find the heart to criticize. The group, Somebody’s Coming—from one negative—is a charming specimen of artistic and photographic skill. Such pictures as these of Mr. Robinson certainly entitle photography to a high place among the fine arts.
Next in order are nine magnificent views of Stockholm, three feet by two feet in size, by Carleman, of Stockholm. They are among the sharpest and finest specimens of enlarged prints. However, we must remark that in six of these pictures we are favoured with a repetition of the same sky and clouds—a want of variety never to be found in nature.
Nine views on papier eiré, by Szwejcer, are interesting specimens of this process; they are also an evident proof that it is no formidable rival of more popular processes. All of them have a resemblance to lithographic prints.—The collection of Charles Marville, photographer of the Imperial Museum, is a very good one, when we consider the difficulty of many of these reproductions. We have here a demonstration of the increasing importance of photography as a means of multiplying the drawings and etchings of famous masters.
A frame of views succeeds, taken on tannin plates, by V. Pipereaur. They are good; but not as good as the views in the frame immediately below, taken by Eugene Donnerville, consisting of scenes at Villers-sur-Mer. If, as we supposed, they are specimens of a wet process, they certainly eclipse their dry rivals which hang above them. The skies are especially fine.--C. Coutou exhibits a collection of views in which the remote distances are all well rendered, being quite as sharp and well-defined as the foreground. Not a few of his photographic competitors might take a profitable lesson from him in this particular.—The collection, consisting of divers subjects, by Moulin (who states that he has received “Honourable Mention” at Paris in 1855 and 1861, and at London in 1862), certainly does not deserve a medal this year. The array of portraits by L. Samson is very fine. He exhibits two of each subject—one quite small, and one about four times larger and reversed; one set having been obtained from the other by copying and reversing by the camera in all probability.—Next we have a series of seventeen views of Biarritz, and other localities in the Pyrenees, by A. Guynemez, which, as a whole, show great taste and skill; but the artist has made several of them include [sic] too much for the capacity of his lens.
M. Delintraz exhibits some very excellent portraits, and a single frame containing five charming skies: the clouds, with the varied effects of light and shade upon them, are lovely.—Then follow two frames of scenes and groups of persons and animals, which are quire interesting as the work of the Laboratoire-Révélateur, invented by M. Titus Albités, for working the wet process in the open air, without the aid of any tent or dark room.—Succeeding these are a series of twelve enlargements, by the process of A. Liébert. They are accompanied by prints from the small negatives used in obtaining the enlargements, and each picture has a descriptive label. The following is a translation of one of them:--“Magnified print upon albumensied paper, by the ordinary photographic processes, from a one-sixth carte negative, obtained in one hour and fifteen minutes, on the 18th of March, 1864, at Paris, in the atelier of M. Erwin, with the solar camera, without a reflector, patented by A. Liébert; certified to be veritable, and without retouching.” They are all quite good for solar-camera enlargements; but we have no hesitation in saying that we have seen equally good ones, if not superior, at London, at Frankfort, and at Philadelphia.—Following these are fifty-one copies of celebrated paintings, and several original photographs of distinguished persons, by Mr. Bingham; they are all admirable specimens of photographic skill. The reproductions are especially fine. The whole collection forms one of the features of the Exposition. Mr. Bingham evidently fully merits his high reputation.
M. Bertch exhibits six enlargements, taken by his chamber-automatique et mégascope, and obtained in an average time of twenty seconds.
The series of thirty portraits by Carjat and Co., are all most excellently done.—C. H. Soulier exhibits six very beautiful large glass transparencies, taken by the albumen process; and also, alongside of them, eight views upon paper, several of them from the same negatives.—A transparent window follows, filled with specimens of vitrified photographs, by Héricy: they are all of a deep yellow colour, but the subjects, in all their details, are well preserved.—M. Samson exhibits a window, showing how transparencies on glass may be made to serve the purposes of interior adornment.—M. Ferrier has a series of glass transparencies, somewhat similar to those of M. Soulier, and equally good. They are really splendid; and, as we studied them, we could not refrain from wondering why such beautiful adornments for the windows of both public and private buildings were not more practically appreciated.
A Civiale exhibits, among a series of views of Alpine scenery, two long panoramic views of mountain ranges; one of them, which gives the whole circle of the horizon, is printed from fourteen negatives.—M. Poitevin shows a very interesting collection of prints by his processes, varying in date from 1847 to 1864. The prints developed in carbon and other colours in powder, by means of the perchloride of iron and tartaric acid, show an advance; and the collection of photographic enamels, by the same process, is a highly successful one. He also shows a specimen of a moulding in plaster, obtained by means of bichromated gelatine; and a porcelain cast, obtained from the plaster mould. The resultant picture is a rough one; but the process may hereafter yield finer results.—In connexion with these are several frames, exhibiting beautiful specimens of photo-lithography, obtained from ordinary negatives directly on the stone, by Lemercier, by the Poitevin process.
There are also some specimens of heliographic engraving on steel, by the process of Ch. Negre. All these applications of photography to the art of engraving are well worthy of a careful scrutiny.
M. Aubry shows some studies of leaves, very well done.
Next to these hang twelve enlargements, by the Vicomte Aguado. They are not very good.
The series of reproductions from pictures and engravings, by E. L. Thiboust, jun., are admirably well done. It is almost impossible to discover that some of them are not from Nature herself. His reproduction of the old engraving, entitled La Gouvernante, is perfect.
The four large frames of L. Cremière consist mainly of portraits, very well done; but his photographs of animals are particularly good, and his two portraits by the heliographic process of Niepcè de St. Victor are admirable, especially the portrait of M. Auber.
M. Richebourg, photographer to the Emperor, exhibits portraits, views from nature, and copies of paintings—all of them excellent specimens of photography. His reproduction of Lange’s picture of The Battle of Solferino is very effective. The copy of Dumas’s Crucifixion is also admirable.
The rapid review we have thus far made has carried us entirely around the four sides of the Exposition, and includes about two-thirds of the whole; the remaining third hangs on temporary partitions occupying the centre of the salon. We reserve this portion for our next article.
1864: BJP June 15, vol. XI, #216, p.213:
Adventure of a Travelling Photographer.—
A patrol of Cossacks, in the neighbourhood of Kowno [sic], came across a wandering disciple of photography. The Cossacks deemed him a suspicious character, and requested him to show his passport. That complied with, they wanted to know what else he had about him. Our photographer, perceiving that might not right is the order of the day, resignedly opens his portmanteau, full of all sorts of chemicals. A bottle containing a clear fluid, which could hardly be told from their “wuttke,” [sic] next attracts the attention of these sons of the desert. They are not far out, for it is full of alcohol, eighty degrees strength; smelling and tasting are soon done with, and the bottle drained to the last drop. A second and third bottle are also soon dispatched—these containing ether and collodion. And now they spied out one more bottle in a snug corner: this one was not so innocent—a solution of cyanide of potassium. Eagerly they snatched at it, but the photographer thought that humanity compelled him to prevent any further drinking. By signs he tried to make them understand that the contents were poison, and in proof he pointed at the death’s-head on the label. All in vain; they neither heard nor saw anything but the coveted liquid, and the bottle was raised to the lips of one of them. “So far, but no further,” cried the photographer in despair, and taking his stick he knocked the phial from the Cossack’s mouth, so that the broken pieces and the contents fell to the ground. And now, after tendering their grateful thanks in the shape of a shower of kicks and blows, the patrol rode off disappointed and grumbling at the loss of its piquant cordial.
1864: BJP July 1, vol. XI, #217, p.226:
Waifs & Strays: [selection]
--Photographs of Killarney.—Mr. Sedgfield has been to Killarney and secured some excellent views and characteristic groups in that beautiful district. The waterfalls were less interesting than usual from a deficiency in the water supply, and the effect of some of his groups was marred by the repugnance of the “natives” to be photographed in their every-day habiliments.
--Mr. Wilson has been busy for the last monthly with his camera about Melrose, Jedburgh, Fountains abbey, York, Furness Abbey, and the Lake district. We may therefore soon expect to see another charming series of views of those interesting places, some of which have already received almost a fresh lease of immortality (would that photographs were immortal!) from his inspired camera.
--Instantaneous Pictures.—We have received from Messrs. Ross and Thomson, of Edinburgh, two photographs of the card size—one representing a youth in the act of jumping over an obstacle; and the other a girl using her skipping rope. In both cases the exposure must have taken place while the figures were in mid-air and without any support; the pictures are therefore as instantaneous as exposure could well be made. The outlines are a little blurred, but the half-tone is good, and the action vigorously rendered.
1864: BJP Aug. 5, vol. XI, #222, p. 288:
Answers to Correspondents: [selection]
--T. Edge (Llandudno).—Old negative baths, cleaned according to Mr. Hardwich’s formula, are not so good for exciting albumenised paper as freshly made ones. The whole of the ether and iodide of silver cannot be removed from the silver solution by the process you name. Both are injurious, especially if you use a highly-albumenised sample of paper.
1864: BJP Sept. 16, vol. XI, #228, p.352-354: [cont. on page 374]
A Voice from the Hills: Mr. Wilson at Home.
I have been “rained up” here (excuse the Yankeeism) for nearly a fortnight, and for lack of photographic weather have been spending my time in collecting rare geological specimens, with which the district abounds; visiting Crossthwaite’s museum, Pettit’s art gallery and the pencil manufactories; wandering up and down Borrowdale over Lochrigg Fell; scrambling even to the top of Coniston Old Man; and varying the amusement occasionally by studying the ways of tourists, and of those who live by them. I have sat on the parapet of Greta Bridge, watching the mist curling round Catbell and Causey Pike, curiously intermingling itself to my mind’s eye with the fumes generated nearer home from the fragrant weed, or “that beastly tobacco,” as some unhappy people would call it. But do not say a word about this, because the “lady” at home objects to smoking, reads The British Journal of Photography; and moreover, if I happened to catch a cold from these horrible drizzling rains and gusty winds, would put it all down to the smoking account and use the face as a per contra argument ever after.
I have not, however, been altogether idle, for I have made ever so many sketches in my note book of points of interest; but without obtaining any more substantial and truthful record of them by means of the camera. At last, after days and days of hope deferred, I am beginning to fancy that I am destined to become a sort of second “Wandering Jew,” ever pushing on from place to place and taking notes of subjects, but never having the opportunity of sitting down comfortably to photograph them, as all enthusiastic photographic Christians ought to be enabled to do.
Seeing that I have done everything possible under the circumstances, I am at last reduced to the dire necessity—instead of indulging in another cold out-of-door bath with my clothes on—of sitting down to redeem a long-made promise of communication to the readers of The British Journal of Photography a description of my apparatus and modes of working in the field.
I do not expect that I shall have anything new to communicate. I feel like the needy knife-grinder—“Story! God bless you, sir, I’ve none to tell;” but should my notes be of the slightest use to any of your great world of readers, I shall not consider that I have been “rained up” for a fortnight at Keswick in vain.
To being, then, I shall give you as minute a description as I can of my outfit for a trip of a month or six weeks’ duration in search of the picturesque; and, as a preliminary, I may mention that I often do not know the evening before I start, for what place I may chance to take my railway ticket on the morrow. There are so many places which I am told I ought to visit, and so many beautiful scenes in this beautiful country of ours, that I have often difficulty in deciding whether I ought to go to the seaside in search of clouds and shipping, to the English cathedrals for picturesque interiors, or to the mountains and lochs for rocks and foliage and calm water.
The few instantaneous pictures which I have published have, for the most part, been taken during the months of May and June, when I have always found the actinism of the sun’s light to be the most intense. For the mountain and lake scenery I prefer the rather early autumn, because there is a greater chance at that season of still weather; but this has been an unusual season, in this quarter, of wind and broken weather, and therefore it is that I have missed getting satisfactory views of Grasmere and the Langdale Pikes, and that I am now addressing the readers of the Journal instead of varnishing the day’s negatives or polishing plates for to-morrow.
A beam of actinic light has just burst through my cobwebby window, and on looking up I see a little break in the sky, betokening a chance for a successful photograph, so I must make haste to redeem the pledge which, after all this long exordium, I find I have not yet commenced to fulfil.
CLEANING THE PLATES
The selection and polishing of the plates is generally the first thing that requires attention before starting on a journey. I use the best patent plate of about three-sixteenths of an inch in thickness. Those with scratches and air-bubbles, or other blemishes, are rejected; although I am not so particular if I get one side of the glass perfect, because I always print in the shade, and therefore a scratch on the back of the negative is in this case of little consequence. The plates are first rubbed over with dilute nitric acid, and well rinsed immediately with water flowing from a tap. They are then polished on one side slightly and on the best side thoroughly with chamois leather and plenty of “elbow-grease;” and then stored up in plate-boxes holding two dozen each. Four of these boxes I take with me on a journey, and, if occasion requires, have as many more forwarded to me by rail afterwards, packed in bundles, with clean writing or blotting paper between each glass, the packing-box in which they arrive being used for returning finished negatives ready for printing.
THE OUTFIT.
The chemicals I pack in two bottle-baskets, made specially strong and light; one of them—the larger—is a stock basket, containing about six one-pint bottles of nitrate of silver bath, four pints of collodion, two pints of glacial acetic acid, two pints of varnish, one wide-mouthed bottle filled with protosulphate of iron, and another with cyanide of potassium. The basket is made with a handle at each end and one in the centre of the lid, and it is two inches deeper than the bottles. The spaces between the bottles and the top contain a plate-holder for polishing plates, a pneumatic holder for use in coating them, clean chamois skins, one quire of white blotting-paper, and another of brown wrapping-paper, a ball of twine, and some spare two-ounce bottles for use in varnishing. The lid of the basket is secured by an iron pin in front, and a strap with a buckle is fastened round the whole on the outside. The small basket is strapped in the same manner, has only one handle over the top for carrying on the arm, is much smaller, and is intended to contain materials to serve for only one or two days’ work. It is fitted up with a glass bath in wooden case (the dipper and bath secured from breakage by jamming a cork tight between the former and the wide of the bath), three sixteen-ounce bottles of nitrate of silver solution, one sixteen-ounce bottle containing developing solution, a small wide-mouthed bottle for holding crystals of protosulphate of iron, another of the same shape for fixing solution of cyanide of potassium, eight two-ounce corked bottles of collodion, three two-ounce bottles of glacial acetic acid, small bottle of convenient lumps of cyanide of potassium, developing cup, a small glass funnel, a small gutta-percha ditto, three tent pegs with cords attached, two towels, pneumatic plate-holder, dropping bottle for nitrate of silver, and a small portfolio containing filtering-paper. The rest of the impedimenta consists of the camera, made with sliding body, shifting fronts, and moveable central division, focusing from the front (instead of moving the lenses) by means of a toothed shaft turned by a mill-headed screw at the side of the front part of the camera. A tripod of the ordinary kind for the camera, with a smaller ditto for tent, enclosed, when folded up, within the larger one, the whole being secured with a strap and buckle; also two tin cans and a tin jug; fitting into each other so as to make but one package.
All this may seem to be a great quantity of material, but it does not look so much in reality as it does in the description, and after a good many years’ experience in working with wet collodion, I find it is scarcely possible to get on with less, if one expects anything like satisfactory results.
I have never been able to do anything without an assistant; but with a strong and willing “help” like Mr. [William] Gellie, who always accompanies me on my photographic tours, there is never any difficulty in reaching our land of promise, be it in hill or dale. We have long ago made up our minds to endure the little blow to our vanity of being sometimes mistaken for itinerant umbrella menders, or perhaps occasionally—as once happened to us in Devonport—for highland bagpipers; but our organs of self-esteem are too largely developed to allow such mishaps to have much effect upon us, and our enthusiasm for the art, combined with the pleasure of a free Bohemian sort of life, make us as independent as the old Scottish earl, who wrote above his door—
“They say—
Quat say they?
Lat them say!” [all sic]
For anything I know to the contrary, this photographic outfit may be very similar to that of any other landscape photographer; and, in describing more particularly the component parts of it, it is possible that there may be nothing new or unusual, except that my tent, perhaps, may not be one of the sort in general use.
THE TENT
Is composed of a light tripod of the usual height for the frame-work, and a covering of two folds of twilled block and one fold of yellow twilled calico. The cloth is first cut into lengths, about a foot more than the length of the tripod frame, then folded from opposite corners, so that each piece may be cut along the diagonal of the parallelogram into two triangles, which are afterwards sewn together so as to form, when laid flat on the floor, about three quarters of a circle (see diagram [not copied] ). The edges are cut evenly round, and bound with tape; and when a square hole has been cut out of the two outer folds of black calico, and two folds of yellow cotton to act as a window have been substituted, the tent is complete.
It can be pitched in half-a-minute by stretching out the tripod until the legs are about three feet apart; and when a few stones, pieces of wood, or anything handy are placed round the bottom inside, it is ready to receive the bath and bottles. Unless I am in a great hurry to catch some very transient effect, however, I usually shake the dust well out of it, water the ground on which it is to be placed and the stones which are to be placed round it inside, to keep the light from entering below If the weather be very dry, and dust flying about, I also go over the inside of the tent with a damp cloth or sponge, but after the month of July this is seldom necessary, as by that time the ground is so well saturated with moisture that dust seldom gives trouble.
When the tent is pitched my assistant has the camera unpacked, the basket opened, and is ready to hand me the bath, which I place on the ground towards my left hand, and the silver solution, developing cups, and dropping-bottles in convenient positions near it. Then, whilst I am giving a final polish to my plate, he runs to fill the cans with water from the nearest source of supply, and is ready to cover me up in the tent whilst I coat my plate and dip it in the bath. When the plate is immersed I place the wooden top on the bath, the whole being then covered with a towel. During the time I am placing the camera, my assistant mixes up the developing solution, and places the smaller can of water, with the jug hanging from the edge of it, inside the tent on the right-hand side. The other can serves to replenish the smaller one, or is used in washing the negative after it has been removed outside the tent to be fixed.]
I presume every photographer has his own favourite form of tent, which he has been accustomed to work in—which he loves above all other tents—and you must therefore excuse me if I sound the praises. FINISH TRANSCRIPTION WHEN P. 354 COPIED
1864: BJP Sept. 30, vol. XI, #230, p.374-375:
A Voice from the Hills: Mr. Wilson at Home.* (*Continued from page 354) [cont. on page 388]
Æsthetics and General gossip—Concluding with the Camera Stand.
Since I sent you the last packet of gossip, I made another pilgrimage to Greta Bridge, to have a last smo— [sic] another look, I mean, of tantalizing old Skiddaw, but he still seemed so black and sullen that I resolved for the present to “leave him alone in his glory.” Seeing that he would not put on his portrait face to be photographed, I considered it might be a good stroke of policy to pay my respects to his neighbor over the way. Jealousy, I thought, might have some effect upon the brute; but the only result that I could see of this “dodge,” as I took a last look of him on entering the Vale of St. John, was, that he drew his nightcap closer round his ears than heretofore—out of spite, I fancy; and, as his big brother, Helvellyn, gave symptoms of following suit, I came on to Ambleside to try my luck upon Knab Scar. He, being a very modest mountain comparatively, as to size, and not having any peculiar notions about his dignity and that sort of thing, like some other high and mighty monarchs of the same class that I wot [sic] of, did show some amiability yesterday. For upwards of two hours he smiled like a cherub, and Rydal Mere was so delighted to see his dear hoary old face again reflected from her glassy bosom that she smiled too-aye! Laughed at him. She began also to dance by and by, in a way that I did not at all approve if, because it spoiled the reflections of the lovely islands which were mirrored on her surface; but having previously caught them all in their most amiable mood, I was in no wise disconcerted, and felt inclined to join in the dance myself, in fact; for I had been niggling away so long trying to get a hook fixed into some of the great leviathans over the way that I was delighted at last to bag a minnow or a cherub, or anything else of the sweet species, provided it was fair game.
When on our way home we were met by a party of ladies, who, seeing us carrying what they believed to be a bundle of fishing rods and a bait-box—in reality, our camera and stand—asked what particular kind of fish we had caught. Mr. Gellie said something about our having caught Knab Scar. His listeners appeared to think our new capture saw some strange fish inhabiting these waters, of which they had never heard before. They certainly did think we were a couple of strange fishes; but no matter—the same to them!
Now, my dear Editor (Editors I mean, for trinity is unity, and vice versa), it was this little stroke of extreme good luck, and not “D---‘s patent developer,” as you may possibly insinuate, that made me break off where I did last week. I really did some nice things next day. To-day it has been “blowing great guns,” and “here we are” again, as the clown says, at a very uncongenial pursuit, blackening paper with the commonest and vilest ink instead of nitrate of silver—all to please or disgust, as the case may be, the readers of The British Journal of Photography.
To continue: I have some faint recollection that my last contribution left me talking of composing a picture. A great many people think that sort of language is all cant and nonsense when applied to photography, because a photographer cannot select and arrange his subjects in a way to suit his ides of composition in the same way that a painter can, but must take them as they are presented to him, and in no other way. One photographer is as good as another, they say, and the fraternity as a whole is not very remarkable for intelligence or common sense, not to mention taste and feeling. Now this objection might be very true if there were only one possible point of view of any subject which could be photographed, and that the ugliest and the lest interesting. But, so far is this from being the case, even supposing one man could use his fingers and his chemicals as dexterously as any other man, that there are very few landscapes, for instance, which cannot be photographed from a great many points and under a great many different aspects of light and shade. The photographer, therefore, has ample room for the display of taste—if he possesses any—in selecting his point of view, his light, and his foreground: upon the happy selection of these depends, in a great measure, whether his picture is to be merely a “bit” or a satisfactory whole.
But the æsthetics of photography lie more in friend Wall’s way. He, by his able writing in the pages of your Journal, has made the subject peculiarly his own, and his is the “pen of a ready writer.” I shall not, therefore, trespass on his domain farther than to say that the only principle which guides me in selecting my points of view is that I am never satisfied unless I can get the objects comprehended, even in a stereoscopic-sized plate, to compose in such a manner that the eye, in looking at it, shall be led insensibly round the picture, and at last find rest upon the most interesting spot, without having any desire to know what the neighbouring scenery looks like. “Bits,” I am sorry to say, are often unavoidable, especially when photographing such scenery as at present surrounds me on all sides—bits, where the sky line of a mountain comes down to an abrupt termination at the side of the picture, tantalizing the spectator with suggestions of lovely scenery lying beyond the limits of the photograph and the present capabilities of the art. My employment on dull days is generally to hunt up foregrounds for such subjects as I may have decided on photographing, and in making sketches of them in outline to enable me without much trouble to find them again, and place the camera in position at once, when opportunity occurs. This entails many a climb and scramble over hill and dale, through brakes and heather in all likely and unlikely places. The difficulty in finding a suitable foreground is also increased by the circumstance that I have to study the popular taste as well as my own, and must try not only to get a pleasing picture of a place, but one also that can be recognised by the public; and the public is not much given to scrambling to out-of-the-way places where a superb view may be had of a celebrated spot, if it can see it tolerably well from the Queen’s highway.
Well, after all my endeavours, I feel the shortcomings of photography as much as the sourest Athenæum art-critic, and know well how inadequate the art is to give a correct idea of mountainous scenery, where as much depends upon colour as upon form. But I do not forget, like him, that the painter has his shortcomings also, in only a small degree less; for, until he is enabled to dip his pencils in liquid fire, instead of flake white and dirty reds and blues, his representations of this fair earth and the glorious expanse that surrounds it must of necessity be, in comparison to the great original, as dross and dirt and vanity.
After discussing high art, Shakspere, [sic] and the musical glasses, it may seem absurd to come down to camera stands; but as I do not see how to avoid it, I fear you must be content to take my gossip as it comes.
And this reminds me that I met at Lodore a genial member of the North London Photographic Association, who is as genial, I have no doubt, as he looked, and who lent me the last three numbers of The British Journal of Photography—a great god-send in this rainy weather. The said jolly-looking member was an unfortunate, I fear, with old father Skiddaw as was your humble correspondent. Poor fellow! Being out for a holiday, he deserved a better fate. Well, what I was about to say was, that I read in one of the Journals so kindly offered to me by Mr. --- (but I have no authority to take liberties with his name—may his shadow never be less! He knew me only from his being a freemason, and from his having smelt collodion a quarter of a mile off) that Mr. Warner has something new in camera stands which he is just about to bring out, so I shall say nothing about mine further than that it is strong and steady, and can stand a good breeze without shaking.
It requires considerable watchfulness at times—especially when working in a cathedral having a smooth marble pavement—to prevent some fair daughter of England or Israel, as the case may be, from up-upsetting[sic] it with her crinoline as she promenades in all her glory with “bugles in her hair and with tinkling feet,” as in the days of old. I am doubtful if Mr. Warner even can overcome this difficulty. I know that when, with the knowledge of his having time to prepare a fresh plate before his twenty minutes’ exposure is up, he confidently leaves his camera to take care of itself, he cannot prevent the intelligent public from peering into the lenses, and upsetting his camera in a vain endeavour to get a sight of the peep-show within. No doubt Mr. Warner must mean what he says. I shall, therefore, at once strap up my tripod and proceed to lenses. Now, I expect I shall have a great deal to say about lenses, and, as it is a subject which requires careful consideration, if you will excuse me for a little I should like to have a smo--- (that vile word again!)—I mean a quiet talk with my vade-mecum and travelling dictionary, Mr. Gellie, in the garden seat over the way, with the aforementioned “developer” near at hand.
Ambleside, September, 1864 G. Washington Wilson. (To be continued)
1864: BJP Oct. 7, vol. XI, #231, p.388:
A Voice from the Hills: Mr. Wilson at Home.* (*Continued from page 374)
More Gossip—Then Something about Lenses.
This morning we—namely, Mr. Gellie and I—were tempted by a gleam of sunshine to hurry up to the top of Loughrigg Fell in hopes of getting a comprehensive view of the mountains surrounding Great Langdale; but, with photographers’ luck, we were up in time only to see the last bit of blue sky disappearing to leeward. I don’t repent coming up, however, even with a heavy burden on my back; because few people, I dare say, consider their energies as wasted when once they reach the top of one of our mountains (although Loughrigg can scarcely rank as one), for the simple reason that if the weather be at all bearable, one is always rewarded more or less by breathing a purer atmosphere and enjoying a brief respite from the “carking cares” of the world below.
There is no respite for me, however, and as it is of no use attempting to photograph mountain scenery without sunshine, I must wait—many a wait I have had of it before now—and whilst Mr. Gellie is strolling about in search of moths and beetles, et id genus omne of vile-looking brutes in which he delights, I, in the absence of anything better to do, take possession of the leeside of a boulder, pull forth my notebook and pencil, and proceed with another instalment of my gossip.
Well, I intended to say a great deal about lenses, and I might say much to interest novices in photography, which might not be at all interesting to older hands, so perhaps it may be as well for me to say but little. Besides, my theoretical knowledge of optics is not very extensive, and is only sufficient to enable me to demonstrate to a sceptic the optical difference between a block of Aberdeen granite and a spy-glass: you can see through the one and not the other. I am, in short, no mathematician, and have a wholesome dread of such men as Ross, Dallmeyer, or Grubb, who might come down upon me in next week’s Journal—men, I have no doubt, great in conic sections and deep in the “infernal,” or, as Gellie calls it, the differential, calculus, whatever that may be. Some of these gentlemen
“Could show you straight
If bread and butter wanted weight;
Or wisely tell what hour o’ the day
The clock doth strike, by Algebra.”
Instead, therefore, of attempting to write a treatise upon the construction of photographic lenses, I shall stick to my own practical experience in working them; and thus fulfil my mission better, perhaps, whilst at the same time I shall “display the better part of valour.”
For stereoscopic landscape work, then, I always prefer the old-fashioned view-lenses of six-inches focal length, where it is practicable to use them, and lenses of four and a-half-inches focal length, if the subject be so situated that the longer focussed lenses cannot be used. My reason for this is that stereoscopic pictures taken with lenses of long focus have always a much more natural and life-sized effect (if I may use the term) than those taken with lenses of shorter focus. I have seen many foreign views of cities, &c., that had apparently been taken with lenses of even shorter focal length than four and a-half inches, for the purpose, I imagine, of getting a greater number of objects into the picture. But such views, however beautifully executed, have always a diminutive look in the stereoscope; and instead of their “holding the mirror up to nature,” the beholder can never get rid of the idea that they are reproductions of small models, in cardboard, of the places they represent.
When six-inches focus lenses are used, a photograph of a mountain when seen in the stereoscope looks really like a mountain, and not a model of a mountain in a Dutchman’s garden.
For interiors, I always prefer a pair of lenses of six-inches focal length, if the subject will admit of them, and for the reason given above; but since many interiors are too small to allow of such lenses being used, except by leaving out the most interesting part of the subject, perhaps, it is necessary at times to use lenses of shorter focal length. I have at present a pair of triplets of about four and a-half inches equivalent focus, which answer this purpose admirably. They give perfectly straight lines, are free from flare (or nearly so, and they might easily be mounted so as to get rid of it altogether—but of this by and by), they cover a large field, and are as quick-acting, so far as I can judge, as a pair of single meniscus view lenses of the same focal length.
My best interiors have hitherto been taken with single lenses of six-inches focus, by which lines are somewhat curved at the sides; but I believe the public prefer the views so taken for the stereoscope. The curvature is so little that, if it is not altogether counteracted in the stereoscope, it is not offensive, and the more massive and natural look that such views always have more than counter-balances all the other defects arising from the necessary distortion of this kind of lens.
The same six-inches lenses, unnamed and unnumbered as they are, I use also for instantaneous views. The only difference in the manipulation of these being that all the moveable stops are taken out, and the fixed ones used instead. The stop is about five-eighths of an inch in diameter, and I may here observe that lenses to work with stops of the same size can now be had from Ross, Dallmeyer, or Grubb, and probably also from other makers whom I don’t know. With such large stop, of course, lenses of that focal length will not yield so sharp an image, nor give such depth of definition, as if a small stop were used. I therefore usually try to get the objects in middle distance as sharp as possible, leaving the near and more distant objects to take care of themselves. It is seldom possible to get views absolutely instantaneous with these lenses, because a great deal depends upon the subject and upon the season of the year; but, if instantaneous means “quick”—and that to my mind is the fastest synonyme [sic] that old Dr. Johnson gives for the term—then there is no occasion to speak, as some people have done, of certain photographs of mine being quasi-instantaneous, and, until some savant gives us a more extended nomenclature, I mean to stick to my own definition.
I have never managed to reduce the exposure to less than about the sixth part of a second, and then only when sky and water formed the principal elements of my subject; my aim, hitherto, being to secure as quickly as possible, and nothing more, some fleeting effect, which could only be caught if caught quickly:--the effect of a street, when crowded with traffic; of a ship sailing past, with the water playing like a fountain at her bows; or the long cumulo-stratus clouds in an evening sky, reflected from the surface of a Highland loch. These effects can be caught by any one, without peculiarly sensitive or secret preparations of collodion and nitrate bath, and without any super-excellent lenses made by—“the man in the moon,” for that matter; but considerable watching and waiting is necessary before an effect turns up which is both capable and worthy of being taken, and, when it does turn up, one must be ready to do it at once, as presto! it is too late!
I use only one size of plate for all sorts of views and portraits, seven by four and three-quarter inches; and, when I wish to take a view of the full size of the plate, I withdraw the central division of the camera, remove the lenses, and substitute a triplet lens of about eight inches focus. This lens I have used for years upon all sorts of subjects, and never had cause to regret it. It will cover a nine by seven inches plate quite sharp enough for all ordinary purposes, and, by using only the fixed stop, instantaneous negatives of favourable subjects may be taken with it on plates seven by four and three-quarter inches. It, as well as most lenses, might be improved in the mounting; but it is nearly perfect, and some of the common faults to be found in the mounting of lenses have been obviated.
There are stops to prevent reflected light coming from the interior surface of the tube; but the edges of these stops, as well as the edges of the cells which contain the lenses, ought to be beveled off to a thin edge, instead of being left square, and of the whole thickness of the metal, as they often are.
These bright edges of stops sometimes cause me annoyance in certain lights by throwing a glare upon the plate to such an extent as to show in the negative, and it is a pity that this is not remedied by opticians before sending out their lenses. Whilst on this subject, I should also like to say that for stereoscopic lenses, there should never be two tubes, one sliding within another, because it requires constant watching to prevent them slipping out when leveling the camera or changing its position, and many a negative I have lost by “exposing” without observing that one of the lenses had slipped an eighth of an inch or so out of its place.
The caps, also, which one gets with new lenses I find useless for stereoscopic work. They cannot be taken off and put on simultaneously, and I generally fling them away and get a double cap of cardboard, covered with black velvet, made so large as to fit loosely any or all of my lenses. It hangs on so loosely that it can be used also for instantaneous exposure, and I now use no other form of instantaneous shutter for this purpose. Stops should be made so that they could readily be changed but not readily lost; and there should be some provision for moving them nearer or farther from the lens, as may be desired. And, finally, although this is generally better looked to now than formerly, the tube should have the thread of the screw large, so that it may catch easily in the flange when being replaced after cleaning.
I have done fault-finding for the present, and, as there is no appearance of the sun coming out, I shall “bundle home” to dinner; and whilst I take my usual digester it is possible that I may continue my gossip; iron developer, and not D-----‘s, being my text next time.
Top of Loughrigg Fell, Sept. 12, 1864. G. Washington Wilson (To be continued)
1864: BJP Oct. 21, vol. XI, #233, p. 410:
A Voice from the Hills: Mr. Wilson at Home* (*Concluded from page 388).
Developing, Fixing, and Varnishing the Negative.
I fear your readers, if they have managed to follow me thus far, will begin to complain that they are only getting “one halfpenny worth of bread to this intolerable deal of sack!” I told you I had little to say, and I confess that I don’t say it in such a methodical way as beseems one who addresses the readers of a journal devoted to science and art. Well, I shall dilute the remainder of my story with as little stuff as possible; and, as it is not often that I trouble you or your readers, I hope this once to be forgiven.
In preparing my developed, then, I go by “rule of thumb,” as in other matters, and I don’t recollect the time when I weighed and measured the component materials of it. I take a little protosulphate of iron and dissolve it in a bottle of water, then add some glacial acetic acid, and—there you are! To be more precise: I take about on ounce of glacial acetic acid. If the weather be warm, and I am afraid of staining my plats, I dilute this, perhaps about one-third, with water; but I prefer a strong solution when it is practicable to use it. Sometimes it is necessary to use distilled water for the developing solution, but in general I use the water from the spring or pool nearest my camping ground for the time being, and I find it, except in the chalk districts, usually sufficiently pure for the purpose. Immediately after rainy weather, when I am working amongst the hills, the water often requires to be filtered to get rid of small seeds, bits of moss, &c., which would otherwise make pinholes in the collodion; and I have sometimes found it labour not in vain to dig a well with my hands near a promising spring, when “prospecting” for foregrounds on dull days, so as to have a nice clear pool to fill the can at some future time when Sol appears more propitious. When the silver bath begins to get saturated with ether, I add a little alcohol to the developing solution; but I work without this addition as long as possible, because I fancy—although it is perhaps only a fancy—that I get cleaner negatives without it.
This developer I apply to my plate in the usual way by tilting it from a cup—an ordinary four-ounce medicine cup—on to the plate, in such a manner as to cover the whole surface almost instantaneously, keeping it flowing from side to side of the plate until all the details are fully out, or as long as it appears to act without fogging. I then wash the plate well, and drop some thirty-grain nitrate of silver solution from the dropping bottle along the upper edge of the plate, and when it has covered the whole surface dash, on some fresh developer, and immediately oscillate the plate, as before, to cause the two solutions to mix quickly and prevent stains. When this mixture ceases to act I wash off, and if the negative be not dense enough I repeat the process until it is so, although it is seldom that more than two applications are necessary.
I fix with cyanide of potassium, using it so strong as to clean off the iodide in about ten seconds, taking care to wash immediately with plenty of water. Should the negative not look dense enough after removal of the iodide of silver, I take it into the tent and redevelope with silver and iron, as before; but in this case great care must be taken to wash off the cyanide thoroughly before applying the developer, otherwise the shadows are apt to become obscured with a brownish deposit, which ruins the negative. “Well, there is nothing new in all this!” you will exclaim. I never said there was, gentle reader, but such has been my invariable practice for the last seven years, and the details have been published over and over again. I should not have dared to trouble you with a description of it once more, had I not read in a recent number of The British Journal of Photography that a Frenchman had just discovered it, and believed it to be the best method of redeveloping instantaneous negatives which he had tried. If it be the best method yet discovered it would be a pity not to record it, otherwise it might have to be dug up again, perhaps, after another period of seven years, like many a discovery of greater consequence.
Varnishing the negative is to me the only disagreeable portion of the whole business. It must be done with great care; and I often experience considerable difficulty in accomplishing it to my mind when on a journey. I lose my temper over it, in fact; for roasting oneself for a couple of hours over a slow fire on a bright day in August would scarcely contribute to the amiability even of a saint, far less to mine; so don’t blame me if this operation sometimes puts me in a “stew,” and causes Mr. Gellie to have important private commissions to execute, which usually detain him abroad about two hours from the time that the varnish bottles are produced.
In the first place, I require a clear fire for varnishing; and, if I can manage to get this in my bedroom, my first proceeding is to lock the door to prevent anyone suddenly opining it and raising a cloud of dust whilst I am in the act of pouring on the varnish. I use always a common spirit varnish, which I get from Horne and Thornthwaite’s, and this I filter through thin filtering paper into half-a-dozen two-ounce bottles, in the same manner and for the same reason as I do with collodion. It is of considerable importance to have the varnish free from dust, &c., because if it once gets fixed on the plate by means of the varnish it can never be got rid of, and entails a never-ending touching-up of the prints afterwards.
When the fire burns clear I remove the fender and fire-irons, and spread some sheets of brown paper upon the hearthstone to catch drops of varnish, and avoid making a mess. I then stick a plate-holder on the back of the plate, wipe the dust from the surface with a gilder’s brush, pour on the varnish as if coating a plate with collodion, allowing it to run off at the foreground edge of the plate, and during the time the plate is held to the fire I draw a piece of thick blotting-paper gently along the lower edge so as to clear off the superfluous varnish and prevent its forming a ridge a quarter of an inch up the plate, as it would otherwise do.
When all the plates have been gone over in this way, I examine them for pinholes and spots, fill up the former very carefully with lamp-black, so as to conceal them and nothing more; and if there are any opaque spots I dig them out very gently with the point of a penknife. When all are touched up I proceed to varnish them over again, this time running off the varnish at the sky edge of the plates, so as to secure a pretty even coating of varnish over the whole surface.
This second varnishing fixes the touches of colour in the pinholes, and enables the negative to yield a greater number of proofs than it would otherwise do—a matter of some importance when printing for commercial purposes. The sharpness of the negative is sometimes slightly deteriorated by this double varnishing, but not much; but then I have printed for four or five years constantly from such a negative, when it would have been worn out in one season with only a single coat of varnish to protect it.
Before packing up the negatives—which I do in bundles of about a dozen each, with a piece of blotting-paper between each negative—I go over them for the last time, and with spirits of wine clean off all dirt and splashes of varnish from the backs of them. They are then considered finished, and nothing remains but to hand them over to the tender mercies of the printer.
Now, Messieurs The Editors, I believe this is all my story; but if there by anything else which you may think necessary to add, either for amusement or instruction, I fear I must trouble you to do it yourselves, for my idle time is up; I can stand this inactivity no longer, and by the time you receive this, I shall be “o’er the border” and awa’to—“bonnie Aberdeen.” G. Washington Wilson.
Ambleside, 13th September, 1864.
1864: BJP Nov. 18, vol. XI, #237, p.462:
Our Editorial Table.
Stereographs of the Lake District. By G. Washington Wilson.
This exquisite series of views is the result of an autumnal visit to the lake district, during which Mr. Wilson found time to dictate the charming letters which lately appeared in this Journal. But that he was not altogether engaged in writing these, nor always “rained up,” the pictures before us are sufficient evidence.
In reviewing the stereographs of Mr. Wilson, the individuality of the artist is so stamped on the character of his work that he can only be compared with himself. In those before us he has at least not retrograded.
As usual with him, Mr. Wilson seizes with an artist’s eye the best point of view, and with the skill of a finished photographer makes the most of it. He has not, this season, attempted much of the instantaneous class of pictures, which have made his name so famous. There is, however, one of this class which we think superior to anything he has hitherto done, not excepting even his celebrated Loch of Park. It is entitled Derwentwater from Friar’s Crag (582). We presume this must be the point of view referred to by Southey, when he says—“There it is! if I had Aladdin’s lamp or Fortunatus’s purse, I would build myself a house.” The clouds, distant hills, and foreground are all admirably rendered, and the whole is very effective as a picture. There are also two or three other excellent views of the lake from other points, showing the distant Wallow and Falcon Crags and Causey Pike.
From the vale of Coniston we have several fine pictures. First of these we take Coniston Old Man, from above the Mines (559). This photograph is far from being artistic, and is only interesting from its being a representation of a mountain always attractive to the geologist and mineralogist. All the other views of Coniston are truly Wilsonian, and especially so the Waterfall at Coniston (561), Ewedale Crag (560), and At the Copper Mines (562).
In Borrowdale Mr. Wilson seems to have had very fortunate weather, and he has therefore been correspondingly active. There are two capital representations of the celebrated Bowder Stone, of which Wordsworth says:--
“Upon a semicirque of turf-clad ground,
A mass of rock, resembling, as it lay
Right at the foot of that moist precipice,
A stranded ship, with keel upturn’d, that rests
Careless of winds and waves—“
Many others we might mention connected with this beautiful valley, all of which are very fine—specially so Borrowdale, from above the Bowder stone (565), and Borrowdale, looking towards the Castle Crag (581). These have a very soft aerial effect.
Rydal Mere, beautiful as it is in many respects, has not been fortunate enough to obtain much distinction from Mr. Wilson’s camera. There are only three stereographs of it, and these, although far above the ordinary standard of such photographs, are not quite up to the best specimens of the Wilsonian type.
Ambleside is only represented by one general view—a very admirable one, purporting to show Miss Martineau’s ivy-covered cottage in the distance. We confess we have some difficulty in recognising it, but we suppose it must be there.
We have only space in this short article to notice one extraordinary photograph of the Langdale Pikes from Loughrigg Fell (594). Those
“---two huge peaks
That from some other vale peer into this.”
If the Dalton art-cynics could agree in defining what “fine art” is, we could, with this picture and sundry others of the same series before us, meet them on their own ground, and perhaps have the best of the argument.
1864: BJP Nov. 18, vol. XI, #237, p.462:
Our Editorial Table.
Christmas Cards.
We have seen a novel and neat application of photography to those cards peculiar to “merrie Christmas,” in which the grinning figure usually occupying the centre, and who wises us “the compliments of the season,” is supplanted by an embossed photograph. Messrs. Pumphrey Brothers, of Birmingham, are the inventors of this new application of photography, which they have registered. The photograph is placed within a highly illuminated border. These cars are a great advance upon the ordinary Christmas cards, and they will, doubtless, be very popular. Although designed primarily for their own use, we see from their advertisement that these cards are accessible to all.
1864: BJP Dec. 9, vol. XI, #240, p.503:
Our Editorial Table.
Architectural Stereographs. By G. Washington Wilson, Aberdeen.
After viewing the miserable specimens of architecture which disfigure London, whether they be for public or private use, it is refreshing to turn to the works of our forefathers, and those who, in modern times, instead of delighting in the foreign styles of Greece and Rome, or the debased Renaissance, with their straight sky lines and ugly windows, do their best to preserve the spirit of our national architecture. We have been led to make these remarks by an examination of some architectural stereoscopic slides by Mr. g. Washington Wilson, who, although he has not always been happy in his choice of subject, yet invariably seems to have selected the best point of view.
First, then let us notice the views of Edinburgh. No. 525, The High School, exhibits all the ugliness which one might expect to find in its sham Grecian architecture. We therefore turn with pleasure to other more interesting objects. No. 114a is an instantaneous view of Sir Walter Scott’s Monument. This is valuable as an attempt on the part of the architect to revive the old style of architecture, and is fairly successful. Next we have No. 90b, Holyrood Palace. This is a beautiful slide, exquisite in pose, and most satisfactory in point of photography. The ruined chapel looks piteous by the side of the palace, recalling to our minds the lines—
“The reverend pile lay wild and waste,
Profaned, dishonoured, and defaced.
. . . . . . .
And dark fanaticism rent
Altar and screen and ornament.”
The next is No. 117, Waverley Bridge and Old Tower, Edinburgh. This view is superb; the high buildings of the Old Town tower above, the foreground occupied by the railway with its engine and trucks, blending the old and new in a strange fashion. This and the preceding slide ought to have a place in every collection. Nos. 573, 574, and 575 are views (interior) of Abbotsford—beautiful in point of execution, and deeply interesting from their association with our greatest novelist. The same may be said of No. 577, the Bronze Cast of the Head of Sir Walter Scott after Death. Nos. 992 and 97 are views of Melrose Abbey, exhibiting its decorated style of architecture, its admixture of foreign idea reminding us of Scotland’s close connection with France in former times. Nos. 104a and 104c are views of Dryburgh Abbey, St. Mary’s Aisle. The last-named is most beautiful. We have here the rare feature of an early English and semi-circular arch—not, indeed, that it is to be compared in beauty with the usual pointed form. No. 570 is the tasteless pyramid, called The Albert Cairn, Balmoral. We cannot but regret that such good photography was wasted on so unpromising a subject.
Leaving Scotland we come to York Minster. Mr. Wilson has taken three views of this noble building. That from the south east is least interesting, though it exhibits the transept with its graceful early English work and rose window in its gable. The West Front, No. 366, is very fine, with its doorway having the effigies of a Percy and a Vavasour—the one holding a piece of rough, and the other a piece of hewn, stone, said to represent the one as furnishing stone for the building, and the other the carriage of the same. We have another view of the west front, with the new Roman catholic Chapel of St. Wilfred on the left, seeming by its foreign style to flout the grand old building in whose shadow it may be said to lie. There are three views of Furness Abbey, the best being No. 554, showing the magnificent Norman work of the nave, and the grand central tower, noble still in spite of its ruinous and neglected state. Next in order are five views of fountains abbey, with its perpendicular work. No. 539, Fountains Abbey from Robin Hood’s Well, and The Chapter House, No. 548. This altter subject is most effective. The Norman work, especially that of the doorway with its series of recessed arches, cannot be more faithfully rendered—everything seems to be perfect; in fact, this slide is a complete success. These ruins seem to be well cared for by their present owner. As if to rival the works of the ancient architects, we see Mr. G. G. Scott’s Church of St. eorge, Doncaster, rebuilt after the fire, which destroyed the fine old work. The interionr, No. 552, is very good, and Mr. Wilson seems to have been most successful in its delineation. The nave is of five bays, and the spandrils of the arches are filled with two demi figures of saints in each, an advance towards the use of sculpture in the decoration of our churches which we hope will be followed up. It is fortunate for tourists that Mr. Wilson has been able to give them such a series of views—gems of photographic art—to say nothing of the attraction the subjects must possess over mere landscape views; and, should we happily discover a really permanent process of photographic printing, we may have to thank Mr. Wilson for preserving the remembrance of ancient art now crumbling to the dust through age, neglect, and often its wilful destruction by those persons to whom the sacred trust of preserving it belongs.
Though it must be confessed that for archæological purpose we should prefer pictures say 7 x 6 in size, yet with Mr. Wilson’s skill we might have a series of views of our cathedrals and abbeys at a moderate price, which would, we think, command a large circulation. The ordinary cabinet size is not suited for architecture, and the stereoscopic, for detail, is too small, however beautiful it may be for general effect.
1864: BJP Dec. 23, vol. XI, #242, p.532:
Our Editorial Table.
Photographs by Messrs. Pumphrey Brothers, Birmingham.
The names of these artists were somewhat prominently brought before the world in connection with their photographic views of the disastrous effects of the great inundation arising from the bursting of the Bradfield reservoir. In comparison with the illustrations which appeared in the various illustrated periodicals of the day, these were felt and acknowledged to be, if not more artistically beautiful, at least more valuable, from the fact that while one was largely dependent upon the imagination of the artist, there could be no gainsaying the accuracy of the other. To this reason the records of that dire catastrophe by the artists alluded to are more highly prized than the most labored and best efforts of the mere draughtsman.
The pictures before us now, however, are of a different character to those to which we have alluded, and call up emotions very far removed from the terrible. They represent scenes in such euphoniously-named places as Aberystwith, Bettws-y-Coed, Llandudno, &c. The view of Gwydr Castle, from the Hill (in which the castle is seen peeping out through an opening in a mass of foliage), and that of Canterbury Cathedral are, we think, the least successful of their productions—the former from the blackness (arising from under-exposure) which pervades it, and the latter from the imperfect outlines of the building, arising from the manner in which the sky has been stopped out. Twll Ddu, with its majestic and overhanging rocks; Castell Dimas Bran, in which the reflection in the water is very perfect, notwithstanding that the smoke issuing from the chimneys reveal that a strong wind has been blowing; the Bridge of Llanrwst;--these, with many others, are pictures of much beauty and of considerable interest. The variety and nature of the subjects embraced by these artists in their collection attest both their enterprise and their taste.
1864: BJP Dec. 23, vol. XI, #242, p.532:
Our Editorial Table.
Photographs by Messrs. H. Petschler & Co., Manchester.
Mr. Petschler is so well known, in connection with a valuable addition which he made to our knowledge of the capabilities of the collodio-albumen process, that we doubt not our readers have anticipated our remark that the pictures before us are by the process alluded to—an admirable paper on which was read by Mr. Petschler at the last meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society, and which will be found at page 522 of our last number. Intense sharpness and brilliance, in no instance degenerating into hardness, are the photographic characteristics of Mr. Petschler’s works, and stamp him as a manipulator of skill; while the selection of the subjects depicted by him equally attest his artistic taste. Perhaps the pictures in which these qualities are most conspicuously displayed are two views of Tissington Spires, Dovedale; Rustic Bridge, in Monsal Dale; and Netherdale Farm, in the same locality.
1864: BJP Dec. 23, vol. XI, #242, p.532:
Our Editorial Table.
Photographs by Mr. C. Alfieri.
When clouds are printed from a second negative on stereoscopic pictures it is a matter of importance that they bear due relation to the subjects which they are intended to grace. The wider apart the distance which any given object (compared with any other object in the view) in the right-hand picture is from the left-hand one, the more distant will that object appear, when combined in the stereoscope, compared with the other, the distance apart of which was not so great. The fact that in several of Mr. Alfieri’s stereographs some of the clouds bear in the right and left hand pictures only the same, and in some instances less, amount of separation than exists between objects in the foreground, serves to account for the fact that when combined in the stereoscope those views in which the clouds are printed in have them projected in front of the picture. The remedy is obvious. If the negative containing the clouds be cut through the middle, and the right and left hand views separated slightly more than at present, a pleasing and natural effect will be produced. The pictures, otherwise, are of a good quality, and display, in one important particular, more care than we have for some time seen bestowed on any other binocular pictures—viz., each picture is so trimmed and mounted as rather to appear somewhat behind the plane of the cardboard mount than raised up in front of it. In the former the effect produced is pleasing and natural; in the latter it is not so. Mr. Alfieri’s pictures now before us are, as we have hinted, very perfect in this respect.