| Dates: | 1825 - 1895 | | Active: | Australia |
Preparing biographies
“Darwin’s Bulldog,” Huxley is best known for helping to establish and defend the theory of evolution. In 1846 he was a brilliant but disillusioned young surgeon still trying to make his way in the world when he obtained the position of scientific assistant surgeon on HMS Rattlesnake, under the command of Captain Owen Stanley. The main purpose of the expedition was to locate a safe passage through the Great Barrier Reef, in preparation for the screw steamers that would be coming from Sydney. It was during this voyage that Huxley defined his scientific life. He wrote to his sister Eliza on October 6, 1846: “Again, I have learnt the calotype process for the express purpose of managing the calotype apparatus, for which Captain Stanley has applied to the Government.” Although successful in his lessons, it is not known how many, if any, calotypes Huxley was able to make during the expedition. John MacGillivray’s two-volume narrative of the voyage (1852) includes lithographs based on Huxley’s drawings but makes no mention of his photography.
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