Paris: Lerebours et Secretan, 1846. Fifth edition. 8vo., [4], vii, 288 pp., folding plate loosely inserted, adverts. Scattered foxing to the first and last few leaves. Quarter morocco and paper over boards, gilt decorations on spine. The binding is lightly rubbed and worn at the tips. A very good copy. Item #52545

N.P. Lerebours is most noted for his publications EXCURSIONS DAGUERRIENNES [1841-1844] the first large-scaled publication illustrated from photographs, as well as for his manufacture of apparatuses, of which he was among the first. In his TREATISE, he discusses the underlying theory of the photographic process, and the numerous practical methodologies of the day. Even though it is largely concerned with the daguerreotype, there are sections on the paper processes of Talbot, Ponton and Bayard, and a description of the galvanographic process to make prints from daguerreotypes, with a compilation of writings by the inventors or practitioners themselves, the list of which reads as a European directory of the most famous of the period, and the gravure process of Fizeau. Although stated as the fifth edition, it should be referred to as the fifth enlarged and revised edition; his earlier publications had various other titles and were less than half the length of this work. The appended catalogue, [p. 269 -288], lists all manner of photographic apparatus and is priced. There are several pages concerned with his publication, EXCURSIONS DAGUERRIENNES, and the various contents that could be ordered.

"French daguerreotypists achieved wide reputation, especially daguerreotypists Lerebours and Secretan, opticians to the observatory and to the navy in Paris. Before the end of 1839 N.P. Lerebours had constructed large daguerreotype cameras which produced pictures of 12 x 15 (French) inches. He worked at first with Gaudin, then established himself in Paris as a manufacturer of optical, physical, and mathematical instruments ... , and later associated himself with Secretan... Their studio was opened about 1845, and it flourished for several years. In 1850 Lerebours and Secretan made one of the most excellent panoramic daguerreotypes of a view of Paris ever made." (Eder, p. 314 HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY).

Roosens and Salu No. 2842. Bellier de la Chavignerie, Manuel Bibliographie du Photographe Francais, 1863, No. 18.

Price: $1,850.00