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Photograph (Experimental Photogenic Drawing), by Robert Hunt, from the Photographic Experiments of Sir John Herschel, 1839

Inventory Number: 85837
Object Type:
Persons: Robert Hunt (Photographer)
Sir John Frederick William Herschel (Owner)
Date Created:
Accession Number: 1928-71
Brief Description: Experimental photogenic drawing by Robert Hunt, undated but 1839. It is a direct-positive contact copy of an engraving, but there is no visible image except a spire top left (if oriented vertically). The yellow colour is typical of Hunt's process and results from his use of iodides. Given to Herschel by Hunt as a specimen of his experiments and of the direct-positive photogenic drawing process he invented and (briefly) marketed.

For fuller descriptive and historical commentary see narratives.
Primary Inscriptions: 'washed with Ammon Mur - | Bleached by Bar. Hydriod' [in Robert Hunt's hand].
Provenance: Presented by Miss Herschel and Lady Lubbock in 1928. They were the two surviving and youngest children of Sir John Herschel (Francisca and Constance).
Collection Group: Herschel's Photographic Experiments
Material(s): Paper
Dimensions:
Height Width Depth Diameter Unit
145 97 mm

Narratives

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