Niépce correspondance et papiers

N IEPCE 1163 - who was undoubtedly the originator of the thing though Daguerre improved it to such a degree as to perform in 5 minutes what before required 6 hours. The effect was the same however with the exception of the impossibility of catching transient lights, & also the camera obscura seems to have been far less perfect - the center of the picture being alone good. […] 621 Journal de voyage 1 (B.U.S t .A.). Inédit Paris, 16 mai 1839. Forbes relate sa visite chez Daguerre. […] May 16. Went with Arago, Watt, Sir Robison, Sir J. Brisbane, Pentland, Murchison to see Daguerre pictures which astonished us all, me especially, for [tho’] I had formed the highest expectations from the descriptions & should have been miserably disap- pointed had they were entirely contradicted [still]. I own that I had lost an hope of seeing anything // equal to my first expectations. I was most agreably surprised to find them far more than fulfilled on [every] point. The promptitude & minuteness maybe described [can] if it be [necessary] to see the objects [to be] [condensed] of the wonder, but the beauty of the effect cannot. They were far better lighted than [I expected], & the camera obscura dra- wings from still life - busts - draping &c astonished me more perhaps than any other. Many views on the Seine & of houses with paratonerres &c. One on the // boulevard taken at morning noon & night with the [varied] shading. One view of boats on the Seine taken three times to shew the effect of time in the process which was made to [occupy] 1, 4, 15 min. as well as I recollect. In the first the whole thing was sketched but the lights imper- fect, in the second it was fully brought and : in the third the lights have [were] being lost by the long action of faint lights in the dark place but the outlines & the fainted objects were very clearly defined. The general effect however was spoiled. Arago repeated // seve- ral times Herschel’s remark on seeing them - «Nous ne sommes que des barbouilleurs. On aurait pas pû s’en former une idée. C’est admirable. C’est un miracle». […] 622 Journal de voyage 2 (B.U.S t .A.) Paris, 17 mai 1839. Forbes relate sa visite chez Isidore Niépce. [...] May 17. Mr E. de Beaumont called in the morning. Gave him my results of 2[ d ] years computations of conductivity of soils. Afterwards called on M. Isidore Niepce 7. rue S te Hyacinthe, St Honoré to whom I had been recommended by Mr Bauer of Kew who had shewed me last week the first specimens of the Daguerre process as discovered by him from his father M. Niepce. Mr N. was a very gentlemanly person & explained the thing to me circumstantially & I have no doubt cor- rectly. A good many years ago Mr Niepce discovered a process of fixing views by light on 1. Travel Diary (7 mai - 11 juin 1839), de James David Forbes. 2. Ib. Publ. in J.L.M. p. 489. 619 1833 1839