GUIDE DU PHOTOGRAPHE: PREMIÈRE PARTIE: DESCRIPTION ET EMPLOI RAISONNÉ DES INSTRUMENTS D'OPTIQUE APPLIQUÉS A LA PHOTOGRAPHIE PAR CHARLES CHEVALIER; DEUXIÈME PARTIE: NOUVEAUX MÉMOIRES ET RENSEIGNEMENTS SUR LES MOYENS D'OBTENIR DE BELLES ÉPREUVES SUR PAPIER, COLLODION, ALBUMINE ET PLAQUES MÉTALLIQUES, PAR MESSIEURS G. ROMAN, CUVELIER, DAUFAUR, LABORDE, ARTHUR CHEVALIER,... TROISIÈME PARTIE: ÉLOGE DE DAGUERRE. - DOCUMENTS HISTORIQUES. LETTRES INÉDITES DE N. NIEPCE, ETC.
Paris: Charles Chevalier, 1854. First edition. 8vo., [iv], 80 pp.; [ii], 112 pp.; [ii] 56 pp., 1 folding engraved plate. Publisher's original printed wrappers, bound in later half calf and marbled paper over boards titled in gilt on the spine, however, the date is stamped 1857 rather than the correct 1854. There is the occasional light spot of foxing. A fine copy. Item #54407
Charles Chevalier (1804-1859) was the second generation of the famous Parisian manufacturers of optical instruments, camera obscuras, and lenses. In 1826, he furnished Niépce with a camera and lens of his own design, which were used in his early experiments in reproducing images through the agency of light. He told Niépce of the similar experiments of Daguerre, for whom he also made lenses and cameras, as well as advising him on his experiments. It is Chevalier who made the introduction which lead to the partnership between Niépce and Daguerre. Further, Chevalier supplied lenses and camera equipment for William Henry Fox Talbot.
Charles Chevalier published his first manual in 1841; it was one of the earliest manuals of the daguerreian process. In this title, which is divided into three parts, the first part provides a general survey of the history and current methods with attention to the optical instruments manufactured by his company. The second part is a series of articles by G. Roman, Cuvelier, Dufaur, Laborde, and Chevalier, which synthesize the various methods and formulas for prints on paper and plates, as well as making heliogravure plates and prints. And the third, and final part consists of a tribute to Daguerre and a series of previously unpublished letters from Niepce to Vincent and Charles Chevalier concerning optical devices, as well as communications from Fox Talbot and other leading practitioners.
E. P. Goldschmidt & Co. Catalogue 52, A Collection of Early Photographs and Books Commemorating the Century of Fox Talbot and Daguerre 1839 - 1939, No. 255, " An important book. Chevalier constructed the first lenses for Daguerre on the basis of the researches of Wollaston. An account of the construction is given together with many personal recollections and reprints of letters from the first photographers."
Roosens and Salu No. 1867. Bellier de la Chavignerie, Manuel Bibliographie du Photographe Francais, 1863, fails to list this work among the six others by Charles Chevalier. WorldCat locates three copies, none of which are held in North American libraries.
Price: $2,850.00