This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Daguerreotype’s rise in American life and lore
An overview of the daguerreotype craze from 1840 to 1860, detailing its French invention by Louis Daguerre, rapid American adoption, and its role in shaping self-image. The piece notes famous sitters like Morse, Brady, Irving, Lincoln, and Emerson, the material limits of the process, Pfister’s Smithsonian study, and tips for preserving or valuing old portraits.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
UPI
France
Louis J.M. Daguerre
Daguerre
Harold Pfister
Mark Twain
Samuel Clemens
Sam
Samuel F.B. Morse
Mathew Brady
Washington Irving
Andrew Jackson
Sam Houston
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Remarka
Ble
Emily Dickinson
Clara Barton
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Henry James
Cyrus Field
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Edgar Allen Poe
Abraham Lincoln
Henry Clay
John C. Calhoun
Daniel Webster
Horace Greeley
John Greenleaf Whittier
Frederick Douglass
John Brown