Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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The Emperor’s collection:
foreign and Brazilian photography
in the 19th century
Inscribed 2003
What is it
The collection of 21,742 photographs that belonged to
the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II (1825–91).
Why was it inscribed
A unique collection of 19th-century photographs, it was
assembled by one person throughout his life and is the
largest collection of photographs in Latin America. It
includes works by the first photographers in the world.
The collection is an accurate portrait of the 19th century,
reflecting the customs and the intellectual and industrial
developments at the time it was put together.
Where is it
Fundação Biblioteca Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In 1839, the invention was announced of the
daguerreotype, the first commercially viable and reliable
means of producing a photographic image. The Emperor
Dom Pedro II was just 14 years old and in 1840, having
seen a demonstration of the process, he acquired
daguerreotype equipment. He was the first Brazilian
to make a photograph, and the first monarch anywhere in
the world to do so.
This proved the start of a lifelong interest in photography.
At home and through agents abroad, he bought and
acquired items that interested him. He gathered
photographs while on travels throughout his empire and
abroad to North America, Europe, Russia, Turkey, the Holy
Land, the Middle East and Africa. All the photographs
collected on these travels give the collection an international
interest. Annotations made on the photos are sometimes in
the emperor’s hand.
The emperor’s collection of photographs includes the work
of some of the most famous photographers in the world of
their day. The new photographic techniques were used for
different uses including documentation, representation and
expression, in different types and formats, and the collection
reflects all of these. In its comprehensive cover of the first
half-century of photography, the collection is unique and
irreplaceable.
358 The Emperor’s collection
� Emperor Dom Pedro II and his family visiting Egypt
Daguerreotype camera �