Louis Alphonse Poitevin was an outstanding inventor, chemist, engineer, scientist, artist and photographer. This publication provides a unique opportunity to cast a wide-ranging gaze at the life and work of the famous pioneer of photography on the basis of a large number of photographs and the results of the latest research.

For over 35 years Poitevin (1819-1882) experimented with chemical and mechanical processes in order to make photographs printable and more durable. Poitevin recognised how important photography would become as a means of illustrating printed books. He developed the first practicable processes which could be applied in order to make the printing of books illustrated with photos possible for the very first time. This volume assembles photographs and the results of experiments which permit a comprehensive insight into Poitevin’s work and which set his achievements in a technical and art-historical context.