solution of hyposulphite of soda, 4 ounces to 1 pint of water. The plate
was then washed and dried. This is an epitome of the whole of Archer's
process for making either negatives or positives on glass, the
difference being effected by varying the time of exposure and
development. Of course the process was somewhat modified and simplified
by experience and commercial enterprise. Later on bromides were added to
the collodion, an iron developer employed, and cyanide of potassium as a
fixing agent; but the principle remained the same from first to last.
When pyrogallic acid was first employed in photography, it was quoted
at 21s. per oz., and, if I remember rightly, I paid 3s. for the first
_drachm_ that I purchased. On referring to an old price list I find
Daguerreotype plates, 2-1/2 by 2 inches, quoted at 12s. per dozen;
nitrate of silver, 5s. 6d. per oz.; chloride of gold, 5s. 6d. for
15 grains; hyposulphite of soda at 5s. per lb.; and a half-plate rapid
portrait lens by Voightlander, of Vienna, at L60. Those were the days
when photography might well be considered expensive, and none but the
wealthy could indulge in its pleasures and fascinations.
While I lived in Glasgow, competition was tolerably keen, even then,
and amongst the best "glass positive men" were Messrs. Bibo, Bowman,
J. Urie, and Young and Sun, as the latter styled himself; and in
photographic portraiture, plain and coloured, by the collodion process,
were Messrs. Macnab and J. Stuart. From the time that I relinquished the
Daguerreotype process, in 1857, I devoted my attention to the production
of high-class collodion negatives. I never took kindly to _glass
positives_, though I had done some as early as 1852. They were never
equal in beauty and delicacy to a good Daguerreotype, and their low tone
was to me very objectionable. I considered the Ferrotype the best form
of collodion positive, and did several of them, but my chief work was
plain and coloured prints from collodion negatives, also small portraits
on visiting cards.
Early in January, 1860, my home and business were destroyed by fire, and
I lost all my old and new specimens of Daguerreotypes and photographs,
all my Daguerreotype and other apparatus, and nearly everything I
possessed. As I was only partially insured, I suffered considerable
loss. After settling my affairs I decided on going to America again and
trying my luck in New York. Family ties influenced this decision
considerably, or I should not have left Glasgow, where I was both
prosperous and respected. To obtain an idea of the latest and best
aspects of photography, I visited London and Paris.
The carte-de-visite form of photography had not exhibited much vitality
at that period in London, but in Paris it was beginning to be popular.
While in London I accompanied Mr. Jabez Hughes to the meeting of the
Photographic Society, Feb. 7th, 1860, the Right Honorable the Lord Chief
Baron Pollock in the chair, when the report of the Collodion Committee
was delivered. The committee, consisting of F. Bedford, P. Delamotte,
Dr. Diamond, Roger Fenton, Jabez Hughes, T. A. Malone, J. H. Morgan, H.
P. Robinson, Alfred Rosling, W. Russell Sedgefield, J. Spencer, and T.
R. Williams, strongly recommended Mr. Hardwich's formula. That was my
first visit to the Society, and I certainly did not think then that I
should ever see it again, or become and be a member for twenty-two
years.
I sailed from Liverpool in the ss. _City of Baltimore_ in March, and
reached New York safely in April, 1860. I took time to look about me,
and visited all the "galleries" on Broadway, and other places, before
deciding where I should locate myself. Many changes had taken place
during the six years I had been absent. Nearly all the old
Daguerreotypists were still in existence, but all of them, with the
exception of Mr. Brady, had abandoned the Daguerreotype process, and Mr.
Brady only retained it for small work. Most of the chief galleries had
been moved higher up Broadway, and a mania of magnificence had taken
possession of most of the photographers. Mr. Anson was the first to make
a move in that direction by opening a "superb gallery" on the ground
floor in Broadway right opposite the Metropolitan Hotel, filling his
windows with life-sized photographs coloured in oil at the back, which
he called Diaphanotypes. He did a large business in that class of work,
especially among visitors from the Southern States; but that was soon to
end, for already there were rumours of war, but few then gave it any
serious consideration.
Messrs. Gurney and Sons' gallery was also a very fine one, but not on
the ground floor. Their "saloon" was upstairs, This house was one of the
oldest in New York in connection with photography. In the very early
days, Mr. Gurney, senr., was one of the most eminent "professors" of the
Daguerreotype process, and was one of the committee appointed to wait
upon the Rev. Wm. Hill, a preacher in the Catskills, to negotiate with
the reverend gentlemen (?) for his vaunted secret of photography in
natural colours. As the art progressed, or the necessity for change
arose, Mr. Gurney was ready to introduce every novelty, and, in later
years, in conjunction with Mr. Fredericks, then in partnership with Mr.
Gurney, he introduced the "Hallotype," not Hillotype, and the
"Ivorytype." Both these processes had their day. The former was
photography spoiled by the application of Canada balsam and very little
art; the latter was the application of a great deal of art to spoil a
photograph. The largest of all the large galleries on Broadway was that
of Messrs. Fredericks and Co. The whole of the ground and first floor
were thrown into one "crystal front," and made a very attractive
appearance. The windows were filled with life-sized portraits painted in
oil, crayons, and other styles, and the walls of the interior were
covered with life-sized portraits of eminent men and beautiful women.
The floor was richly carpeted, and the furnishing superb. A gallery ran
round the walls to enable the visitors to view the upper pictures, and
obtain a general view of the "saloon," the _tout ensemble_ of which was
magnificent. From the ground floor an elegant staircase led to the
galleries, toilet and waiting rooms, and thence to the operating rooms
or studios. Some of the Parisian galleries were fine, but nothing to be
compared with Fredericks', and the finest establishment in London did
not bear the slightest comparison.
Mr. Brady was another of the early workers of the Daguerreotype process,
and probably the last of his _confreres_ to abandon it. He commenced
business in the early forties in Fulton Street, a long way down
Broadway, but as the sea of commerce pressed on and rolled over the
strand of fashion, he was obliged to move higher and higher up Broadway,
until he reached the corner of Tenth Street, nearly opposite Grace
Church. Mr. Brady appeared to set the Franklin maxim, "Three removes as
bad as a fire," at defiance, for he had made three or four moves to my
knowledge--each one higher and higher to more elegant and expensive
premises, each remove entailing the cost of more and more expensive
furnishing, until his latest effort in upholstery culminated in a superb
suite of black walnut and green silk velvet; in short, Longfellow's
"Excelsior" appeared to be the motto of Mr. Brady.
Messrs. Mead Brothers, Samuel Root, James Cady, and George Adams ought
to receive "honourable mention" in connection with the art in New York,
for they were excellent operators in the Daguerreotype days, and all
were equally good manipulators of the collodion process and silver
printing.
After casting and sounding about, like a mariner seeking a haven on a
strange coast, I finally decided on buying a half interest in the
gallery of Mead Brothers, 805, Broadway; Harry Mead retaining his, or
his wife's share of the business, but leaving me to manage the "uptown"
branch. This turned out to be an unfortunate speculation, which involved
me in a lawsuit with one of Mead's creditors, and compelled me to get
rid of a very unsatisfactory partner in the best way and at any cost
that I could. Mead's creditor, by some process of law that I could never
understand, stripped the gallery of all that belonged to my partner, and
even put in a claim for half of the fixtures. Over this I lost my
temper, and had to pay, not the piper, but the lawyer. I also found that
Mrs. Henry Mead had a bill of sale on her husband's interest in the
business, which I ended by buying her out. Husband and wife are very
seldom one in America. Soon after getting the gallery into my own hands,
refurnishing and rearranging, the Prince of Wales's visit to New York
was arranged, and as the windows of my gallery commanded a good view of
Broadway, I let most of them very advantageously, retaining the use of
one only for myself and family. There were so many delays, however, at
the City Hall and other places on the day of the procession, that it was
almost dark when the Prince reached 805, Broadway, and all my guests
were both weary of waiting so long, and disappointed at seeing so little
of England's future King.
When I recommenced business on Broadway on my own account there was only
one firm taking cartes-de-visite, and I introduced that form of portrait
to my customers, but they did not take very kindly to it, though a house
not far from me was doing a very good business in that style at three
dollars a dozen, and Messrs. Rockwood and Co. appeared to be
monopolising all the carte-de-visite business that was being done in New
York; but eventually I got in the thin edge of the wedge by exhibiting
_four_ for one dollar. This ruse brought in sitters, and I began to do
very well until Abraham Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for one
hundred thousand men to stamp out the Southern rebellion. I remember
that morning most distinctly. It was a miserably wet morning in April,
1861, and all kinds of business received a shock. People looked
bewildered, and thought of nothing but saving their money and reducing
their expenses. It had a blighting effect on my business, and I, not
knowing, like others, where it might land me, determined to get rid of
my responsibilities at any cost, so I sold my business for a great deal
less than it was worth, and at a very serious loss. The outbreak of that
gigantic civil war and a severe family bereavement combined, induced me
to return to England as soon as possible. Before leaving America, in all
probability for ever, I went to Washington to bid some friends farewell,
and while there I went into Virginia with a friend on Sunday morning,
July 21st, and in the afternoon saw the smoke and heard the cannonading
of the first battle of Bull Run, and witnessed, next morning, the rout
and rush into Washington of the demoralised fragments of the Federal
army. I wrote and sent a description of the stampede to a friend in
Glasgow, which he handed over to the _Glasgow Herald_ for publication,
and I have reason to believe that my description of that memorable rout
was the first that was published in Great Britain.
As soon as I could settle my affairs I left New York with my family, and
arrived in London on the 15th of September, 1861. It was a beautiful
sunny day when I landed, and, after all the trouble and excitement I had
so recently seen and experienced, London, despite its business and
bustle, appeared like a heaven of peace.
Mr. Jabez Hughes was about the last to wish me "God speed" when I left
England, so he was the first I went to see when I returned. I found, to
my disappointment, that he was in Paris, but Mrs. Hughes gave me a
hearty welcome. After a few days' sojourn in London I went to Glasgow
with the view of recommencing in that city, where I had many friends;
but while there, and on the very day that I was about to sign for the
lease of a house, Mr. Hughes wrote to offer me the management of his
business in Oxford Street. It did not take me long to decide, and by
return post that same night I wrote accepting the offer. I concluded all
other arrangements as quickly as possible, returned to London, and
entered upon my managerial duties on the 1st November, 1861. I had long
wished and looked out for an opportunity to settle in London and enlarge
my circle of photographic acquaintance and experience, so I put on my
new harness with alacrity and pleasure.
Among the earliest of my new acquaintances was George Wharton Simpson,
Editor of the Photographic News. He called at Oxford Street one evening
while I was the guest of Mr. Hughes, by whom we were introduced, and we
spent a long, chatty, and pleasant evening together, talking over my
American experience and matters photographic; but, to my surprise, much
of our conversation appeared in the next issue of his journal (_vide_
Photographic News, October 11th, 1861, pp. 480-1). But that was a power,
I afterwards ascertained, which he possessed to an eminent degree, and
which he utilized most successfully at his "Wednesday evenings at home,"
when he entertained his photographic friends at Canonbury Road, N. Very
delightful and enjoyable those evenings were, and he never failed to
cull paragraphs for the Photographic News from the busy brains of his
numerous visitors. He was a genial host, and his wife was a charming
hostess; and his daughter Eva, now the wife of William Black the
novelist, often increased the charm of those evenings by the exhibition
of her musical abilities. It is often a wonder to me that other editors
of photographic journals don't pursue a similar plan, for those social
re-unions were not only pleasant, but profitable to old friend Simpson.
Through Mr. Simpson's "at homes," and my connection with Mr. Hughes, I
made the acquaintance of nearly all the eminent photographers of the
time, amongst whom may be mentioned W. G. Lacy, of Ryde, I.W. The latter
was a very sad and brief acquaintanceship, for he died in Mr. Hughes's
sitting-room on the 21st November, 1861, in the presence of G. Wharton
Simpson, Jabez Hughes, and myself, and, strangely enough, it was
entirely through this death that Mr. Hughes went to Ryde, and became
photographer to the Queen. Mr. Lacy made his will in Mr. Hughes's
sitting-room, and Mr. Simpson sole executor, who sold Mr. Lacy's
business in the Arcade, Ryde, I.W., to Mr. Hughes, and in the March
following he took possession, leaving me solely in charge of his
business in Oxford Street, London.
About this time Mr. Skaife introduced his ingenious pistolgraph, but it
was rather in advance of the times, for the dry plates then in the
market were not quite quick enough for "snap shots," though I have seen
some fairly good pictures taken with the apparatus.
At this period a fierce controversy was raging about lunar photography,
but it was all unnecessary, as the moon had photographed herself under
the guidance of Mr. Whipple, of Boston, U.S., as early as 1853, and all
that was required to obtain a lunar picture was sufficient exposure.
On December 3rd, 1861, Thomas Ross read a paper and exhibited a
panoramic lens and camera at a meeting of the Photographic Society, and
on the 15th October, 1889, I saw the same apparatus, in perfect
condition, exhibited as a curiosity at the Photographic Society's
Exhibition. No wonder the apparatus was in such good condition, for I
should think it had never been used but once. The plates were 10 inches
long, and curved like the crescent of a new moon. Cleaning board, dark
slide, and printing-frame, were all curved. Fancy the expense and
trouble attending the use of such an apparatus; I should think it had
few buyers. Certainly I never sold one, and I never met with any person
who had bought one.
Amateurs have ever been the most restless and discontented disciples of
the "Fathers of Photography," always craving for something new, and
seeking to lessen their labours and increase their facilities, and to
these causes we are chiefly indebted for the marvellous development and
radical changes of photography. No sooner was the Daguerreotype process
perfected than it was superseded by _wet_ collodion, and that was barely
a workable process when it became the anxiety of every amateur to have a
_dry_ collodion process, and multitudes of men were at work endeavouring
to make, modify, or invent a means that would enable them to use the
camera as a sort of sketch-book, and make their finished picture at home
at their leisure. Hence the number of Dry Plate processes published
about this period, and the controversies carried on by the many
enthusiastic champions of the various methods. Beer was pitted against
tea and coffee, honey against albumen, gin against gum, but none of them
were equal to wet collodion.
The International Exhibition of 1862 did little or nothing in the
interests of photography. It is true there was a scattered and skied
exhibition at the top of a high tower, but as there was no "lift," I
suspect very few people went to see the exhibits. I certainly was not
there more than once myself. Among the exhibitors of apparatus were the
names of Messrs. McLean, Melhuish and Co., Murray and Heath, P. Meagher,
T. Ottewill and Co., but there was nothing very remarkable among their
exhibits. There was some very good workmanship, but the articles
exhibited were not beyond the quality of the every-day manufacture of
the best camera and apparatus makers.
The chief contributors to the exhibition of photographs were Messrs.
Mayall, T. R. Williams, and Herbert Watkins in portraiture; and in
landscapes, &c., Messrs. Francis Bedford, Rejlander, Rouch, Stephen
Thompson, James Mudd, William Mayland, H. P. Robinson, and Breeze. By
some carelessness or stupidity on the part of the attendants or
constructors of the Exhibition, nearly all Mr. Breeze's beautiful
exhibits--stereoscopes and stereoscopic transparencies--were destroyed
by the fall of a skylight. Perhaps the best thing that the International
Exhibition did for photography was the issue of the Jurors' Report, as
it was prefaced with a brief History of Photography up to date, not
perfectly correct regarding the Rev. J. B. Reade's labours, but
otherwise good, the authorship of which I attribute to the late Dr.
Diamond; but the awards--ah! well, awards never were quite satisfactory.
Commendees thought they should have been medalists, and the latter
thought something else. Thomas Ross, J. H. Dallmeyer, and Negretti and
Zambra were the English recipients of medals, and Voightlander and Son
and C. Dietzler received medals for their lenses.
Early in 1862 the Harrison Globe Lens was attracting attention, and, as
much was claimed for it both in width of angle and rapidity, I imported
from New York a 5 by 4 and a whole-plate as samples. The 5 by 4 was an
excellent lens, and embraced a much wider angle than any other lens
known, and Mr. Hughes employed it to photograph the bridal bed and suite
of apartments of the Prince and Princess of Wales at Osborne, Isle of
Wight, and I feel certain that no other lens would have done the work so
well. I have copies of the photograph by me now. They are circular
pictures of five inches in diameter, and every article and decoration
visible in the chambers are as sharp and crisp as possible. I showed the
lens to Mr. Dallmeyer, and he thought he could make a better one; his
Wide-Angle Rectilinear was the result.
Mr. John Pouncy, of Dorchester, introduced his "patent process for
permanent printing" this year, but it never made much headway. It was an
oleagenous process, mixed with bichromate of potash, or bitumen of
Judea, and always smelt of bad fat. I possessed examples at the time,
but took no care of them, and no one else did in all probability; but it
appeared to me to be the best means of transferring photographic
impressions to wood blocks for the engraver's purpose. Thomas Sutton,
B.A., published a book on Pouncy's process and carbon printing, but the
process had inherent defects which were not overcome, so nothing could
make it a success. Sutton's "History of Carbon Printing" was
sufficiently interesting to attract both readers and buyers at the time.
I have previously stated that Daguerre introduced and left his process
in an imperfect and uncommercial condition, and that it was John
Frederick Goddard, then lecturer at the Adelaide Gallery, London, and
inventor of the polariscope, who discovered the accelerating properties
of bromine, and by which, with iodine, he obtained a bromo-iodide of
silver on the surface of the silvered plate employed in the
Daguerreotype process, thereby reducing the time of exposure from twenty
minutes to twenty seconds, and making the process available for
portraiture with an ordinary double combination lens. Somehow or other,
this worthy gentleman had fallen into adverse circumstances, and was
obliged to eat the bread of charity in his old age. The facts of this
sad case coming to the knowledge of Mr. Hughes and others, an appeal,
written by Mr. Hughes, was published in the Photographic News, December
11th, 1863. As Mr. Hughes and myself had benefitted by Mr. Goddard's
improvement in the practice of the Daguerreotype, we took an active
interest in the matter, and, by canvassing friends and customers,
succeeded in obtaining a considerable proportion of the sum total
subscribed for the relief of Mr. Goddard. Enough was obtained to make
him independent and comfortable for the remainder of his life. Mr. T. R.
Williams was appointed almoner by the committee, but his office was not
for long, as Mr. Goddard died Dec. 28th, 1866.
On the 5th of April, 1864, I attended a meeting of the Photographic
Society at King's College, and heard Mr. J. W. Swan read a paper on his
new patent carbon process. It was a crowded meeting, and an intense
interest pervaded the minds of both members and visitors. The examples
exhibited were very beautiful, but at that early stage they began to
show a weakness, which clung to the collodion support as long as it was
employed. Some of the specimens which I obtained at the time left the
mounting boards, and the films were torn asunder by opposing forces, and
the pictures completely destroyed. I have one in my possession now in
that unsatisfactory condition. Mr. Swan's process was undoubtedly an
advance in the right direction, but it was still imperfect, and required
further improvement. Many of the members failed to see where the patent
rights came in, and Mr. Swan himself appeared to have qualms of
conscience on the subject, for he rather apologetically announced in his
paper, that he had obtained a patent, though his first intention was to
allow it to be practised without any restriction. I think myself it
would have been wiser to have adhered to his original intention;
however, it was left to others to do more to advance the carbon process
than he did.