Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives, 1840-1860

New York, Washington D.C., and New Haven CT: Metropolitan Museum of Art; National Gallery of Art; Yale University Press, 2007. Cloth, xiv, 438 pages, illustrations (some colour); 26 x 30 cm. Biographical dictionary by Larry J. Schaaf in collaboration with Roger Taylor. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Spine slightly rolled at the crown. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by arrangement. Profusely illustrated. "When photography appeared shortly before 1840, the metal-plate daguerreotype, invented in France, was first to achieve popularity. But the process simultaneously developed in England for capturing an image on a paper negative--from which many positives could be printed--provided the foundation on which photography would build for the next 150 years. This beautiful book presents more than 120 photographs printed from paper negatives, or calotypes, most never before published. The entire course of the paper negative's 'golden age' is described, from its laborious invention by William Henry Fox Talbot to competition with French photographers and commercial practitioners. Aesthetically ambitious, these richly textured calotypes were created by photographers both eminent and virtually unknown. Also included is an invaluable biographical dictionary of more than 500 British calotypists. / Roger Taylor is Professor of Photographic History at De Montfort University, Leicester, and former Senior Curator of Photographs and Head of Research Development at the National Media Museum, Bradford, England. Larry J. Schaaf is Senior Research Fellow and Honorary Professor, University of the Arts, London." - Publisher. CONTENTS: Photography and an age of paradox; The formative years: the calotype in the 1840s; The great exhibition of 1851; Battling patents and gaining legitimacy; The calotype finds its place; Subjects fit for the camera; British sensibilities 1855-1857; Echoes of the grand tour; Under an Indian sky; Commercialism advances, the calotype declines.. 1st.. Hardcover. Very Good/Fine. Oblong.