HF The History of Photography 600pág

200 The early years of photography
New York University, and Professor James Renwick of Columbia College. It is
surprising that such a jury should have failed to appreciate Archer's invention, which
was to revolutionize the photographic studios not only of Europe but of the worldand
not least the donor's establishment. It is certain that had Scott Archer wished to
patent the use of collodion, his profits would have been enormous.
ARCHER THE TRUE INVENTOR OF COLLODION PHOTOGRAPHY
Though the invention of the collodion process and first publication of a detailed and
workable formula belong to Archer alone, the possibility of using collodion as a
photographic agent had been realized by others, and soon after Archer's announcement
several claimants came forward, anxious for a share in the merit of the invention.
These claims have to this day somewhat obscured Archer's achievement.
It was found that prior to Archer's communication to The Chemist (March 1851),
two other photographers had alluded to the possible use of collodion in photography,
though without giving manipulatory details. It was not uncommon in the early days
of photography, when new processes or modifications of old ones were constantly
talked about, for novel ideas to be appropriated by people who had no further
acquaintance with them than the name, and incorporated by them in their manuals,
communications to scientific journals, and even in patents, in case they might become
useful. The first reference to the use of collodion in photography occurs in the
seventh edition of ROBERT J. BINGHAM ' s Photogenic Manipulation, published in
January I850. He lists 'collodion (gun cotton dissolved in aether)' as one of a number
of substances, including gelatine and starch, which might be employed to form an
adherent film upon glass. He writes that he has experimented with these substances
and 'found them to answer moderately well' but he offers no description or manipulatory
details, not even in the eleventh edition of his manual ( 18 54) in which the
paragraph is reprinted exactly as before. He had, however, communicated a collodion
method to the Academie des Sciences on 11 May 18 5 2. Despite this, he persisted in
Fig 23 his claim to be 'lnventeur du Procede Collodion' which was printed on the back of
his photographs. Up to I 8 50 Bingham was chemical assistant in the laboratory of the
London Institution, and from 18 59 on portrait photographer in Paris in partnership
with W. Thompson. In 1870 he made a curious death-bed statement to Thomas
Sutton, claiming to have worked with Archer in his darkroom, and that Archer's
publication in The Chemist was made without his knowledge and was in fact the
process as perfected by himself, whereas Archer stated in the foreword to the second
edition of his manual that he made known the collodion process 'without any assistance
[Archer's italics] from, or reference to, the labours of others in the same field of
research'. It is significant that Bingham refrained from contesting Archer's claim to
the invention while the latter was alive. And why did Sutton wait a further five years
before publishing the 'facts'?17 Archer's honourable character and generosity are
vouched for by all who had contact with him. We need only give one contemporary
opinion, which explains why Archer was so easily put upon by others. It is by John
Beattie, a Bristol photographer.
I was working hard as a daguerreotypist when I read about pictures being taken
on glass by collodion . ... It was early in August 1851. Having got Mr Archer's
address, without any introduction but the simple plea of my curiosity and desire
for knowledge, I called upon him. I soon found nothing more was necessary. I met
a thin, pale-faced, over-thoughtful man, possessing a manner so free, unsuspicious,
and gentle, that in a few minutes all idea of my being an intruder was entirely