DC -- Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) -- Exhibit: Earliest Known Photograph of the Castle:
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- Description of Pictures: The Earliest Known Photograph of the Castle
August 10, 2015 – Indefinitely
Brothers William and Frederick Langenheim of Philadelphia introduced a new process in 1849 they called hyalotype to produce glass lantern slides. These slides were mounted for individual viewing or projected using a magic lantern. Hyalotypes were highly detailed and accurate, and were considered "truly astonishing" and "near perfection."
This extraordinary photograph, taken in 1850 during the Castle’s construction, is the earliest known view of the building. It was among 126 views published by the Langenheim brothers in 1850, several of which were later exhibited at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition in London, where they received high praise.
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- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- EARLY_210730_01.JPG: The Earliest Known Photograph of the Castle
- EARLY_210730_07.JPG: After the legislation creating the Smithsonian was passed by Congress on August 10, 1846, one of the first orders of business facing the Institution's governing board was to erect a building to house the new Institution.
The Smithsonian's first building, now called the Castle, was designed in 1846 by architect James Renwick Jr. (1818-1895) in a Medieval Revival style meant to identify the Smithsonian as an educational institution.
The date the cornerstone of the building was laid, May 1, 1847, was declared a holiday and "day of public rejoicing." A grand, mile-long parade formed at City Hall; proceeded to the White House, where the President joined the procession; and then continued to the Smithsonian grounds, where it was reported that six to seven thousand people were in attendance.
This extraordinary photograph, taken in 1850 during the Castle's construction, is the earliest known view of the building. The two wings of the building were completed and occupied, with the Lecture Hall and the Laboratories in the East Wing and the Library and Reading Room in the West Wing. The central section of the building, while under roof, was still an empty shell and would remain unoccupied until early 1855. Two small towers were completed, but the seven others were still under construction. A crane rose from within the partially completed North Tower that would eventually reach 140 feet above the Mall. The Carriage Porch at the front of the building would not be completed until autumn 1851.
In front of and to the right of the building was a workman's shed, possibly for use by the stonemasons. Small bushes and saplings in the foreground, planted by the Smithsonian, presaged the landscaping plan designed by Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852) for the area he named the "Smithsonian Pleasure Grounds."
- EARLY_210730_17.JPG: "... the details of the most elaborate architecture... are shown with surprising accuracy."
-- Catalogue of Langenheim's Magic Lantern Pictures, 1860
Photography was still in its early stages in 1850. Two major photographic techniques were in use at the time. The daguerreotype produced a mirror-like photograph on a silver-coated copper plate. The Talbotype (also known as a calotype) was printed on salted paper; the coarseness of the paper resulted in soft, slightly fuzzy images.
Brothers William and Frederick Langenheim of Philadelphia introduced a new process in 1859 they called hyalotype, which was an improvement upon the Talbotype in that it produced a glass rather than a paper negative. The glass negative could be used to print either paper photographs or glass lantern slides. These slides were mounted for individual viewing or projected using a magic lantern. Hyalotypes were highly detailed and accurate, and were considered "truly astonishing" and "near perfection."
This image of the Smithsonian Building was among 126 views published by the Langenheim brothers in 1850, several of which were later exhibited at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition in London, where they received high praise.
- EARLY_210730_19.JPG: "... it has become a popular medium for conveying instruction."
Illustrated Catalogue of Mathematical, Optical and Philosophical Instruments and School Apparatus.
-- James W. Queen, 1856
Photograph of an early magic lantern projector, called a phantasmagoria lantern.
Courtesy Jack Judson Collection, Magic Lantern Castle Museum, San Antonio, Texas.
Magic lanterns, precursors to the more recent slide projectors, were used for both public lectures and home entertainment.
- EARLY_210730_23.JPG: Fun Facts:
* 1839 is accepted as the year photography was invented.
* The word photography comes from the Greek photos (light) and graphe (drawing).
* Before the widespread use of the term photography, early photographs were often referred to as sun pictures.
* The Langenheims chose to name their process hyalotype, from the Greek hyalos (glass) and typos (image or impression).
* The exposure time needed to produce a hyalotype was more than a minute, making the process impractical for portraiture, but well suited for architectural studies.
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