[ Daguerre, Louis-Jacques-Mandé ]; Vale, G. (volume editor)

Heliography [ Daguerrian Process Demonstrated ]

New York: G. Vail (editor) 1839. First Edition. 8 pages. Extract from a bound volume of The Beacon, Vol III, Number 49. Edited by G. Vale. New-York, October 26, 1839. Pages [385]-392. Disbound, string holes along margin. Very Good. Disbound. [19686]


On the second page under the title 'Heliography,' a correspondent gives a detailed description of a demonstration Daguerre made of his new photographic process. 'A correspondent of the Star gives the following description of a public experiment on the beautiful discovery by the inventor M. Daguerre of Paris.' Followed by over a column of detailed description of the public demonstration held at the Grand Hotel in Paris. This was the first of three public presentations given by Daguerre. In addition to the exhibiting the process, one of the purposes was to so the '...public might judge whether the Chamber of Deputies were justified in giving a pension to M. Daguerre for his disclosure of the discovery.' Although there are many reports of Daguerre's invention in 1839, one as early as April 13 of 1839, this account is particularly interesting because of the detailed description of how the demonstration was carried out. The title is misleading, as Heliography refers to an earlier process developed by Niepce in the 1820s, and it was not the process Daguerre was actually demonstrating.

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