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Show First Phot nmph 51, v human FS 1 fiHBMiJvBflv ifi yvrLt fth js2)sBssHssssssHBkJ ft f fe ift 1 k '- fv'l,vhSfc i V III 7 v.i&'j UiWfA'-:? 'Jm3F:- ammBKMUMLAmM w By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN. n' 1 ERE nro two names that nro sure of Imnlortallty : 1 Cntherlno Dorotliy Drap-t Drap-t j er nnd John William ' &2?a DraI)cr- Vor there will I T)m always bo encyclopedias (fJx, " which Is the record sSSiA' of human progress nnd individual achievement. And these encyclopedias will contain articles on photography. And no ar-ticlo ar-ticlo on photography fs complete without with-out mention of these two names. For tho ilrst photograph of tho human face was tlmt of the fair features feat-ures of Miss Draper. And tho man who made the photograph was her brother, Professor Draper. Moreover, whenever photographer meet to discuss their art, the story 'of tho first photographic portrait is 'apt to be retold. At tho recent con-'yontlon con-'yontlon of the American Chemical so-Iclcty so-Iclcty nt Rochester, N. Y., Prof. Francis lOwcn Rice of New York university ro-'told ro-'told the story nnd exhibited the copy of tho photograph reproduced herewith. here-with. Interesting in this connection aro tho other photographs reproduced. Each gives a glimpse of the progress that has been mado In the 82 years Blnce tho Drapers achieved immortality. immortali-ty. Tho photograph of Theodore Itoosovelt, assistant secretary of tho navy, which Bbows him In the act of speaking, Is the familiar snap-shot which tho veriest nmnteur of tho present pres-ent day can take. The baseball scene Is n spced-plcturo ; tho dirt thrown up by tho man sliding In Is suspended in the air, so fast did tho shutter work. The bird's-eye of the White Houso was taken from nn nlrplano, yet the picture is as clear as if the camera had been on n 'tripod-on top of tho Washington monument. Louis Jaqties Maude DaKUerre (1780-1851), (1780-1851), born In Normandy, Isfthe pioneer . of tho process of photography ; his name Is Immortalized In tho word dnguorreotypy, lie worked for mnny years to fix tho pictures seen in tho camera obscurn. Photography, as ev-oryono ev-oryono knows, is tho nrt of preparing permanent roprescntntlpns of objects by means of tho light they emit or transmit. Wedgewood and Davy nro credited with the first step. They obtnlned prints of foms nnd lace by placing them on paper or leather treated treat-ed with silver nltrato and exposing them to the light. Daguerre nlade the first photograph produced In n camera. It was n deli-cato deli-cato positive; tho Imago was very friable and no copies could bo made. Still It was a photograph. Soon Pagucrro reachod tho point where he mude nnnouncoment that he could take a photograph of an Innnlmnte object, his camera requiring nn exposure of approximately half an hour. This was in 18.10. At the time Dnguerro nnnounced his discovery Prof. Samuel Flnley Broese Morso (1701-1872) was In Europe. Yes; this Is tho Morso who invented tho telegraph, tele-graph, but ho was more thnn an In- r asarasasasBBa89i(!8ataatgZlj ventor. Ho was born in Charlcstown, Mass., and was graduated from Yalo In 1810. Ho studied painting under Washington Allston and Benjamin West. He became ono of tho W?r at our early portrait painters and n credit cred-it to ids mnsters. He was the first president of the National Academy of Design. The University of tho City of New York mado'hlm professor of the history of art In 1835. It wns whllo returning from Europe In 18H2 that lie conceived the Idea of tho telegraph, tele-graph, but It was not until 1841 that Ids efforts were successful and he win able to send over tho wire the message, mes-sage, "What hath God wrought?" John William Draper (1811-1882) was born nenr Liverpool, England, and came to America in 1831. He graduated gradu-ated in medicine in 1830 from .he University of Pennsylvania. Ho took the chair of chemistry nnd natural history his-tory In the University of New York In 1830. In 1841 lie becamo professor of chemistry in tho medicnl department depart-ment of tho university. ' So, you sue, in 1830, when Dnguerro mnde his announcement of the Unit photograph, Morso and Draper wero colleagues in New York university, Morse wns Interested In photography through his portrait painting and In chemistry through his telegraph on Which he was working. Draper was Interested in photography through Ills chemical Investigations. What more natural, then, thnt Morso should hasten to wrlto Draper of Daguerre's success In taking a photograph photo-graph In n camera? Moreover, Morse gave n full account of Daguerre's process. Ho nnd Dnguerro wero friends, tho Frenchmnn having traveled trav-eled In America, exhibiting "dissolving views." Draper studied Morso's nccount. Ho quickly saw changes thnt could bo mode In tho process to shorten tho exposuro of minutes to seconds. These, If successful, would enublo him to mnke a photograph of a living subject. sub-ject. So Draper immediately constructed a camera made out of n cigar box and two spectacle lenses. Preliminary experiments ex-periments gave promlso of success. Then he asked his sister to sit for him. She dressed up for tho occasion In tho costume fashionable among New-York New-York belles of the iluy and climbed wl h her brother to the roof of tho unlvprslty building where the sun was shining in full summer glare. Draper first covered his slHter's face with a thick coating of white. Then ho put her down in n chair and clamped her head in an iron brace to prevent her moving. Doubtless there are "galleries" oven yet In remoto country districts whore the clamp Is considered a necessary part of tho np- pnratus of a first-class gnllcryJ Professor Draper nindo an oxposura of only thirty seconds. Then ho cIoboq tho camera nnd hurried to tho dark room to develop tho pinto. As a matter of fact, all he really hoped to got) was proof that; an "instantaneous ex-j posuro" was feasible. But It was an excellent likeness.' In fact it was so excellent thnt most of the peoplo to whom it wns shown wero entirely skeptical and did not, hesitate to accuse tho photographer of using tho pencil of tho artist to sup-i ply the deficiencies of tho camera. However, Professor Draper obligingly repeated tho experiment mnny tlmca with unvarying success. Moreovor hq wrote several articles for tho mnga zincs of tho day, giving full details, Finally tho doubters wero convincod, Not only wero tho doubters con vlnced but they demanded photographs of themselves nnd their wives and, their sweethearts. Soon thcro wnq bucIi n demand for dugucrreotypca that Draper and Morso opened a pho togrnph gallery. This wns ccrtnlnljJ tho first in America nnd probably th4 first In the world, ' With Professor Morso In Europo lq 1830 was Matthew II. Brady (182 1800). Ho wiiB n precocious boy of fifteen, un employee of A. T. Stewart, New York's "merchant prince." Whoq Professor Draper produced his "Instnn-. taneous photograph" Brady saw huj opportunity. He quickly established n. gallery on Broadway. Ho was auo cessful from tho start. In 1851 ha took a prize at tho London world' fulr. When tho Civil war broko oul ho wns "Brady, the Photogruphor.T with world'wldo fame and galleries la Now York and Washington. When tho Civil war broko out Brad stnrted out with n horse and buggy nnd a camera to photograph It. Ha was In tho thick of tho ilrst bntUa of Bull Run. That night ho blundered Into tho New York fire department zouaves. Ho wns on foot, but ho fltip hnd his negatives. Tho zouaves gava him n sword, which he stropped on outsldo of his linen duster and bo made his wny to Washington. In inak. Ing his wonderful collection of Civil war pictures, he spent tho fortuno ha had made as n photographer. In WobIv) lngtou, owned by Levin Corbln Handy, a nephew, Is a collection of 10,009) Brady negatives. Nearly every ona Is the portrait of a celebrity. Edward VII Is there.. So are Androw Ja'cksorj and Edgar Allen Poe and Sam Houston and Santa Anna and J, J. Audubon. Tho Index rends like a catalogue of th world's greatest of tho Nineteenth century. cen-tury. Brady, the world's most famous photographer, died in the Presbytorl nn hospltnl, New York, a poor man. |