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Daguerreotypes

The American Antiquarian Society's photograph collection includes nearly 230 daguerreotypes. Daguerreotypes, the first commercial form of photography, appeared in America around the year 1839. These were produced by first sensitizing a polished silvered copper plate with iodine vapor, and then exposing the plate to light. The image was developed over hot mercury, fixed, and rinsed. This was a direct positive process, meaning that no negatives were produced, and so each daguerreotype is unique. Daguerreotypes can be easily distinguished from other early photographs by their reflective, mirror-like surface. They were generally produced in the following sizes, which are noted in the inventory:

• Imperial or Mammoth Plate - Larger than 6 ½" x 8 ½"
• Whole Plate - 6 ½" x 8 ½"
  
• Half Plate - 4 ½" x 5 ½"
  
• Quarter Plate - 3 ¼" x 4 ¼"
  
• Sixth Plate - 2 ¾" x 3 ¼"
  
• Ninth Plate - 2"x 2 ½"
  
• Sixteenth Plate - 1 ½" x 1 ¾"

-Jennifer Racine, Readers' Services

An 1848 daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe was used as the model for a famous engraving of the writer, and is housed with an envelope written in Poe's hand.

View of San Francisco, California., ca. 1855. Whole plate. The Society owns a set of three whole plates depicting early San Francisco including this view of the harbor, a view of the hills with Tehama Market and a view of a residential area of the city.

Current information on the collection's cataloging status