Daguerreotype
Invented in Paris by L.J.M. Daguerre in 1839, it was the first commercial photographic process. It used a copper plate with a polished silver surface sensitized by iodine fumes which was exposed in a camera, and the image developed over heated mercury vapour. There is no negative but a reversed plate mounted behind protective glass in a decorative case. It became a widely popular process for portraiture as refinements in technique were made and exposure times considerably reduced.
Charles John Canning, Earl Canning
by Richard Beard
1840s
NPG P119
George Francis Robert Harris, 3rd Baron Harris
by Richard Beard
1840s
NPG P117
Sir Marc Isambard Brunel
by Unknown photographer
circa 1845
NPG P578
Sir George Scharf
by William Edward Kilburn
circa 1847
NPG P859
Charles Babbage
by Antoine Claudet
circa 1847-1851
NPG P28
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Bt
by John Jabez Edwin Mayall
circa 1848
NPG P660
Jenny Lind; Marietta Alboni, Countess Pepoli (née Maria Anna Marzia)
by William Edward Kilburn
1848
NPG P956
John Holmes
after a wax medallion by Richard Cockle Lucas
mid 19th century, based on a work of 1849-1850
NPG 1781a
Henry Brinley Richards
by Unknown photographer
circa 1850
NPG P1317
Robert Stephenson
by Unknown photographer
circa 1851
NPG P4
Sir Charles Wheatstone and his family
by Antoine Claudet
1851-1852
NPG P154
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
by William Edward Kilburn
circa 1852
NPG P1027