A TREATISE ON HELIOCHROMY; OR, THE PRODUCTION OF PICTURES, BY MEANS OF LIGHT, IN NATURAL COLORS. EMBRACING A FULL, PLAIN, AND UNRESERVED DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS KNOWN AS THE HILLOTYPE, INCLUDING THE AUTHOR'S NEWLY DISCOVERED COLLODIO-CHROME, OR NATURAL COLORS ON COLLODIONIZED GLASS. TOGETHER WITH VARIOUS PROCESSES FOR NATURAL COLORS, ON PAPER, VELVET, PARCHMENT, SILK, MUSLIN, PORCELAIN, WOOD, &C., AND ELABORATE ESSAYS ON THE THEORY OF LIGHT AND COLORS, THE CHEMISTRY OF HELIOCHROMY, AND THE ENTIRE RANGE OF THE AUTHOR'S NINE YEARS' EXPERIENCE IN SUN COLORING.
NY: Robinson & Caswell, 1856. First edition. 8vo., xii, 175 pp. Decoratively blind-stamped cloth, gilt title. Light wear at the spine ends and tips, occasional foxing; front hinge partially opened, else very good. Item #32048
In 1850, the Rev. Levi Hill announced his "discovery" of producing a daguerreotype in color, which he called a "Hillotype." Between the years of 1850 and 1856, when he published his treatise, there was considerable controversy as to whether he really had discovered a color process, or was simply a fraud. According to Eder, the "Hillotype" was nothing more than a daguerreotype with color painted upon it. John Towler, editor of Humphrey's Journal [previously the Daguerreian Journal] wrote in 1865, when Hill died, "he always affirmed to this writer that he did take pictures in their natural colors, but it was done by an accidental combination of chemicals which he could not, for the life of him, again produce!" Today, evidence seems to indicate that Hill did indeed produce daguerreotypes from life in natural colors. When first published in 1856, the price was $25.00, which resulted in poor sales and making this a scarce volume.
Roosens and Salu No. 4770.
Price: $3,000.00