| Dates: | 1802 - 1865 | | Active: | UK |
Preparing biographies
Rev. Hartshorne was a reluctant clergyman who had been introduced to bibliomania while still in his university days. His marriage to the daughter of the librarian at Cambridge brought him both a compatible soulmate and immense wealth. A move to Northamptonshire in 1838 positioned Hartshorne to pursue both antiquarian studies and photography. At an Architectural Society meeting in Northampton in 1850, Hartshorne “delivered a viva voce account of the Calotype,” exhibiting not only the apparatus involved but also “some of these sun-pictures, the results of his own experiments.” He cautioned his audience that “the calotypist must reckon upon scores and scores of failures for a single instance of tolerable success.” No further reference to Hartshorne’s patient calotyping has been traced, but he went on to be a significant author and an active member of several societies. His library was sold at Sotheby’s after his sudden death, but the sale was a disappointment, as many of the items had been water damaged in a fire, and Hartshorne’s own photographs might well not have survived this double calamity.
Roger Taylor & Larry J. Schaaf Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives, 1840-1860 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2007)
This biography is courtesy and copyright of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is included here with permission.
Date last updated: 4 Nov 2012.
SHARED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION PROJECT
We welcome institutions and scholars willing to test the sharing of biographies for the benefit of the photo-history community. The biography above is a part of this trial.
If you find any errors please email us details so they can be corrected as soon as possible. |
|
| | Premium content for those who want to understand photography |
References are available for subscribers.There is so much more to explore when you subscribe.
Subscriptions
| | Portraits
If you have a portrait of this photographer or know of the whereabouts of one we would be most grateful.
alan@luminous-lint.com |
Family history
If you are related to this photographer and interested in tracking down your extended family we can place a note here for you to help. It is free and you would be amazed who gets in touch.
alan@luminous-lint.com |
|
LuminousLint 
@LuminousLint