HUNT, Robert (1807–1887)

Researches on Light: an examination of all the phenomena connected with the chemical and molecular changes produced by the influence of the solar rays; embracing all the known photographic processes, and new discoveries in the art [Robert Were Fox's copy]

London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-Row, 1844. Decorative Cloth. First Edition of this key scientific study of the action and effect of solar rays on various chemicals used in photography, and generally considered the first history of that art, uncut and entirely unopened in the original binding. Demy 8vo (222 x 139mm): vii,[1],303,[1],32pp, with folding hand-coloured frontispiece and the publisher's advertisements dated April 1844. Original brown blind-stamped ribbed cloth by Edmonds & Remnants (their ticket to lower inside corner of rear paste-down), pale yellow end papers. Book plate of Robert Were Fox of Falmouth (1789–1877), geologist, natural philosopher, inventor, and fellow of the Royal Society. A spectacular example, soundly bound and virtually pristine. Gernsheim 668. Sennett 96. Eder, pp. 269, 325-26. Johnson (Nineteenth-Century Photography) H1157. Bolton, p. 547 (citing second edition). Boni, p. 140. Roosens & Salu 7952 (noting second [1854] and third editions [1862]). Fine. Item #BB2731

In the preface, Hunt acknowledges help on the early history of photography he has received from Sir J. F. W. Herschel and Professor Sir Charles Wheatstone. He had already written, in 1841, the first general treatise on photography, A Popular Treatise on the Art of Photography and carried out numerous photographic and photochemical experiments. He was a founder of the Calotype Club, of the Photographic Society of Great Britain, and of the London Photographic Society, and became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1854. Hunt, who lived in Falmouth, was a friend of the Fox family; both he and Robert Fox were members of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, and Hunt went into business with Fox’s brother Charles. Hunt probably presented this copy to Robert Fox, who, in view of its fine, unopened, and unread state, evidently did not share Hunt’s interest in the new art form of photography. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $2,365.00