Daguerreotypes

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• Collection: Daguerreotypes

• Title: [Robert Cornelius, self-portrait; believed to be the earliest extant American portrait photo]
• Creator(s): Cornelius, Robert, 1809-1893, photographer
• Date Created/Published: 1839 [Oct. or Nov.]
• Medium: 1 photograph : approximate quarter plate daguerreotype ; mount 37.6 x 29.1 cm, visible plate 9 x 6.9 cm.
• Summary: Daguerre announced his invention of a photographic method to the French Academy of Sciences in August 1839. That October, a young Philadelphian, Robert Cornelius, working out of doors to take advantage of the light, made this head-and-shoulders self-portrait using a box fitted with a lens from an opera glass. In the portrait, Cornelius stands slightly off-center with hair askew, in the yard behind his family's lamp and chandelier store, peering uncertainly into the camera. Early daguerreotypy required a long exposure time, ranging from three to fifteen minutes, making the process nearly impractical for portraiture. (Source: "Photographic Material," by Carol Johnson. In Gathering History: the Marian S. Carson Collection of Americana, 1999, p. 100)
• Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-40464 (digital file from original item) LC-USZC4-5001 (color film copy transparency) LC-USZC2-4912 (color film copy slide) LC-USZ6-2174 (b&w film copy neg.)
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
  
• Access Advisory: Restricted access. Please use digital image or other reference copy. Original photograph is too fragile to serve.
• Call Number: DAG no. 1255 (Cabinet A)
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
• Notes:
  • Title devised by Library staff.
  • Inscribed on paper backing: The first light picture ever taken. 1839.
  • Robert Cornelius: Portraits from the dawn of photography / Stapp. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983, p. 50
  • Gift; Marian S. Carson; 1996; (DLC/PP-1996:086.3).
  • Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress).
  • Forms part of: Marian S. Carson collection (Library of Congress).
  • Published in: Gathering history: the Marian S. Carson collection of Americana. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1999, p. 100.
  • Published in: "Images of America" chapter of the ebook Great Photographs from the Library of Congress, 2013.
  • Published in: The Joy of Looking: Great Photographs from the Library of Congress, 2023.
  • Exhibited: American Treasures of the Library of Congress.
  • Exhibited as a digital copy in: "Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America's Library" at the Annenberg Space for Photography, 2018; Icons section.
• Subjects:
  • Cornelius, Robert,--1809-1893.
• Format:
  • Daguerreotypes--1830-1840.
  • Portrait photographs--1830-1840.
  • Self portraits--1830-1840.
• Collections:
  • Daguerreotypes
• Part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress)
• Bookmark This Record:
     https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004664436/

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Daguerreotypes

The Library of Congress generally does not own rights to material in its collections and, therefore, cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material. For further rights information, see "Rights Information" below and the Rights and Restrictions Information page ( https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/rights.html ).

• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
• Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-40464 (digital file from original item) LC-USZC4-5001 (color film copy transparency) LC-USZC2-4912 (color film copy slide) LC-USZ6-2174 (b&w film copy neg.)
• Call Number: DAG no. 1255 (Cabinet A)
• Medium: 1 photograph : approximate quarter plate daguerreotype ; mount 37.6 x 29.1 cm, visible plate 9 x 6.9 cm.

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• Call Number: DAG no. 1255 (Cabinet A)
• Medium: 1 photograph : approximate quarter plate daguerreotype ; mount 37.6 x 29.1 cm, visible plate 9 x 6.9 cm.
• Access Advisory: Restricted access. Please use digital image or other reference copy. Original photograph is too fragile to serve.

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

   • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.

     As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)

   • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

   • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.

   • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.

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