PHRC | Photographic History Research Centre at De Montfort University
On the third Thursday of every month, we proudly host the Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC) Takeover—a day when academics and students from the Centre (based here at DMU) share their expertise and insights on our remarkable photographic collections.
This month, we’re thrilled to feature Professor Kelley Wilder, Director of the PHRC, as she showcases two fascinating photographically illustrated books by Jessie and Charles Piazzi Smyth published in 1858. Read on to find out more.
Welcome to the first PHRC takeover of the DMU Special Collections blog. Today’s two Charles Piazzi Smyth books both have a Kodak connection, as they come from the Kodak Ltd. Research Library, and the Chris Roberts donation.
The first book is Teneriffe, An Astronomer's Experiment: or, Specialities of a Residence Above the Clouds London: Lovell Reeve 1858 (Kodak Collection 520.724/SMY).
Above: This compact and beautiful book is part of the Kodak Ltd. Research Library which includes many books and journals, which are listed on the DMU Library Catalogue.
Often praised as the first book illustrated with stereo photographs, Teneriffe was only one of the publications arising from Charles Piazzi Smyth’s expedition, (funded by the British Admiralty), to find out if observing from high altitude really was better. It turns out that yes, high altitude observing was better. But the 74 glass positives Piazzi Smyth made with the collodion on glass process were not astronomical images, but photographs of the topography of Teide, the volcanic crater on the largest island of the Canary Islands, Tenerife, where they set up an observatory called ‘Alta Vista’ (you’ll notice that they spelled it with the double ‘f’ at the time). Prof. Larry Schaaf writes about how Piazzi Smyth originally made collodion positives, japanning the back, having no intention of printing them, and then had to get that black backing off, so they could be printed for the book. The book, written for a well-educated but not specialist audience was, as PHRC alumna and one-time DMUSC volunteer, Dr. Francesca Strobino noted in her MA thesis, an early example of popular scientific publishing that enhanced the reputation and book list of the enterprising London publisher, Lovell Reeve.
Above: Charles Piazzi Smyth, albumen prints from collodion negatives. Text reads: 'Sheepshanks telescope first erected on Mount Guajara, the peak of Teneriffe in the distance.'
EXPLAINER: A stereographic photo (or stereograph, like those found in Smyth's book) is a pair of two-dimensional images designed to create a three-dimensional (3D) effect when viewed correctly. These images are typically taken or rendered from slightly different angles, mimicking the perspective difference between your left and right eyes. When these images are viewed simultaneously, usually through a viewer, your brain combines them into a single 3D image, a phenomenon known as stereopsis. Stereoscope devices align the images for each eye allowing the viewer to see the 3D effect. The Owl Stereoscopic viewer you can see in our images here is designed by Dr. Brian May. You can read more about it at the London Stereoscopic Company.
Above Left: a stereographic viewer based on a design created by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1861. From 'D.I.Y. Victorian Virtual Reality' The Lemelson Centre for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Above Right: Professor Kelley Wilder using her Owl stereoscopic viewer.
Above: Charles Piazzi Smyth, albumen prints from collodion negatives. Text reads: 'Second mate of yacht observing radiation thermometers on Mount Guajara.'
The official versions of the report, titled, Report on the Teneriffe Astronomical Experiement of 1856, were also photographically illustrated, but the astronomical observations were all drawings. Piazzi Smyth admitted in the text that photography was still a bit of a disappointment where scientific imaging was concerned. Indeed, the first photograph on the title page is a photograph made of a plaster cast of a crater made by James Nasmyth using measurements from Piazzi Smyth’s observations from Alta Vista.(!)
Above: Title page of the official Report with a ‘stereoscopic map’ of the great crater. From the Chris Roberts Photographic History Library (a new accession to DMU Special Collections).
The one real advantage to photography, wrote Piazzi Smyth, was its ability to generate multiple copies quickly. If you look closely at the stereo photograph of the crater, you will see that Charles was not working alone. At the bottom left corner, you can see C.P.S Phot. meaning Charles Piazzi Smyth Photographer. His wife, Jessie Piazzi Smyth, was the printer, and her initials appear at the bottom right of the print, J.P.S. Pr. for Jessie Piazzi Smyth Printer. It’s a very early instance of recognition for a printer, or a woman, though Drs. Rose Teanby and Erika Lederman have proven without a doubt that many women were operating as photographers at time and in official capacity for large institutions. You can find their recently completed dissertations in the Further Reading section.
For this official report, Jessie Piazzi Smyth printed 350 albumen printed copies each of this stereo and another photographic illustration pasted in toward the end of the report – 700 prints in total, not counting spoiled ones. Remember that at the time, all prints were made in sunlight by contact printing.
For more reading see Francesca Strobino (2017), Lovell Augustus Reeve, Stereo-Photography Illustration and Popular Science: The Case of Teneriffe (1858) MA thesis, DMU.
Larry Schaaf (1980). Piazzi Smyth at Teneriffe : Part I the expedition and the resulting book. History of Photography, 4(4), 289–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/03087298.1980.10441995
Erika Lederman (2024), Armor and Lace: Women Photographers in 19th Century Institutions. Ph.D. thesis, DMU.
Rose Teanby (2024), A Pioneering Legacy: Early Women Photographers of Great Britain and Ireland 1839-1861. Ph.D. thesis DMU.
Thank you Kelley for sharing your knowledge and expertise. For our readers, both books are available to view by appointment in our reading room. We hope you have enjoyed this first deep dive into the photography collections. Look out for our second installment next month!
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