Paris: Se Trouve Chez L'Auteur, 1855. First edition. 8vo., 46 pp. Later binding of gray cloth with a leather title label on the spine. Ex-library, from the Bibliothek der Graphischen Lehr - und Versuchsanstal Wein, with their stamp, deaccession stamp and catalogue number on the blank upper margin of the title page. Barely perceptible foxing on the title page; a very good copy. Item #53043

André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri (1819 - 1889) a self-taught daguerreotypist, researched and improved upon the existing collodion-on-glass negative process, which he outlined in his first publication, Manuel Opératoire de Photographie sur Collodion Instantané, 1853. That same year, he returned to Paris and opened the largest studio in Paris, which spread across two floors. It was there that he introduced his carte-de-visite portraits which were a great financial success. For the 1855 Paris Exposition Universelle, he formed the Société du Palais de l'Industrie and obtained the rights to photograph all the products and works of art exhibited at the Exposition. Eder writes "Disdéri was considered the outstanding portrait photographer of his time in Paris. Napoleon III appointed him court photographer. In 1861, he instructed French officers in photography under orders from the minister of war. Disdéri's popularity is best shown by the fact that his character was introduced in 1861 as a star attraction on the stage of a small vaudeville theater in Paris by a realistic representation featuring his bald head and tremendous beard."

In this, Disdéri's second, and scarcest publication, he outlines his unique methodology for portraiture, of course, with superlatives regarding his talents.

Bellier de la Chavignerie, Manuel Bibliographie du Photographe Francais, 1863, No. 87. Roosens and Salu No. 6527. OCLC locates at most seven copies with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress and the George Eastman House as the sole North American holdings.

Price: $1,250.00