Daguerreotype

Daguerreotype is the name of the photographs fixed on a plate of copper thinly coated with silver by the successive action of the vapours of iodine, bromine, and mercury. Louis Daguerre, after whom the invention is named, was born in Normandy in 1789, was a scene-painter in Paris, made a famous diorama in 1822, and devoted the rest of his life mainly to perfecting the processes of photography, from 1826 till 1833 in conjunction with M. Niepce. He wrote two works on the subject, and died in the neighbourhood of Paris, 12th July 1851. The history of the invention is given at PHOTOGRAPHY.