b. 14 May 1771; d. 11 July 1805
In 1802 Thomas Wedgwood (son of the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood) together with Sir Humphrey Davy presented a paper entitled "An account of a method of copying paintings upon glass and of making profiles by the agency of light upon nitrate of silver." He had worked closely with Davey, and their work was very nearly a breakthrough, for they had made what one can best describe as photograms. However, they were unable to fix the images, and the story is told that Wedgwood was reduced to examining his pictures furtively by the light of a candle. They also tried using a camera obscura, but the chemicals being used at the time were not sufficiently sensitive.
In the report to the Royal Society, June 1802, Davy wrote:
"The copy of a painting, or the profile, immediately after being taken, must be kept in an obscure place. It way indeed be examined in the shade, but, in this case, the exposure should be only for a few minutes; by the light of candles or lamps, as commonly employed, it is not sensibly affected."
Wedgwood died three years later, aged 34. What neither he nor Davey could
find was discovered in 1819 by Sir John Herschel.
© Robert Leggat, 1999.