Fellows of the Royal Society. Autotype (carbon-process) composite photographic print by Herbert R. Barraud

Royal Society. Fellows of the Royal Society. Autotype (carbon-process) composite photographic print by Herbert R. Barraud (1845-96), mounted on heavy paper. London, ca. 1875-80. Image measures 304 x 522 mm.; mount measures 405 x 600 mm. Minor dust-soiling, mount with a few marginal tears and a small crease in the lower margin. Very good. From the archive of Alfred Swaine Taylor (1806-80), founder of forensic toxicology and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Unusual composite photographic print of the Fellows of the Royal Society, created by placing individual photographs against a painted background, then printing the resulting image. The print was made with the autotype process, a fade-resistant method that uses pigmented gelatin. Barraud, a noted Victorian portrait photographer with studios in London and Liverpool, produced a number of images using this method, including a similar photographic print of the Royal Society dated 1 July 1878. This copy is from the archive of Alfred Swaine Taylor, founder of forensic toxicology and a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1845.