Silver Canvas: Selected Dagnerreotypes in the J.Paul Getty Museum

In the Getty Museum’s collection are nearly two thousand daguerreotypes, including such notable examples as John Plumbe’s The United States Capitol, one of the earliest known photographs of the building; an 1849 image of Edgar Allan Poe; and the documentation of the first public demonstration of ether for surgery. This beautiful book’s drologue, based on document and letters, traces Daguerre’s search for a way to produce a permanent and exact image of the natural world through a camera lens. A series of six essays discloses the tremendous impact of the daguerreotype on the worlds of science and art, and includes discussion of individual daguerreotypes that amplify the essay’s theme.