Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre
1874, 23 October
A gentleman who preserves fhis incognito has written…

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The British Journal of Photography, No.755, Vol.XXI, October 23, 1874, p.508.
 
A gentleman who preserves his incognito has written a curious letter to the Moniteur respecting the early history of the process of Daguerre. It appears that in 1839, a few weeks before the completion of those experiments which in June of that year led to the publication of the process by its author, his diorama in the Faubourg du Temple was burnt down. The fire brigade, from their barracks in the Faubourg St. Martin, were promptly on the spot with their various engines and appliances, and were about to throw their jets of water upon the burning diorama, when Daguerre, frantic with anxiety, besought the officer of the brigade to strive rather to save an old house adjoining, in the fifth story of which he said were articles of infinite value to the human race, relating to a discovery of immense importance on the very eve of completion, and which had occupied his most earnest labours during fifteen years. The officer yielded to the prayers of a man already well known for ingenious discoveries, and the old house and its contents were saved. The anonymous author of the letter referred to is supposed to be the officer himself. The editor of the Moniteur states that, when a child, he was himself present at the burning of the diorama.
 
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