The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-09
ID SHOW HISTORY 0F PHOTOGRAPHY Unique Collection for the Smithsonian Institution HAS 5000 SPECIMENS When Completed It Will Illustrate the Development of Photographic
 Art From Time of Its
 Discovery

w. Smillie, F. R. P. s., official pho-
 tographer of the Smithsonian institution,
 is preparing an exhibit of photographs
 which. when completed, will illustrate the
 development of the photographic art
 from the time of the discovery of the
 first process by the Frenchman, Neipce,
 in 1924, to the present time
 This exhibit will consist of collection
 of 5000 photographs, which, when gath- cred, will be placed on exhibition either
 in the National Museum or the Smith
 sonian institution in Washington. The
 collection will be cataloged and each pho
 tograph described in detail as to the
 process used and the inventor thereof.
 Mir. smillie has been connected with the Smithsonian institution since 1868 and
 is regarded as one of the foremost pho
 tographers in the country He IS the
 inventor of the process of photographlns
 on wood, and is the author of many
 books and pamphlets.
 Perhaps the most interesting pictures
 of the collection are two daguerreotypes
 of Daguerre himself. One of the photo
 graphs of the inventor of the most per
 feet method of photography was loaned for the collection by Mrs. Vallentine of New York, while the other was pre-
 sented to the National Museum by MT.
 Cramer of St. Louis. He paid $500 for 1t.
 MT. Smillie is of the opinion that the
 daguerreotype method has never been excelled. Even the most modern ana up-to-date methods, he claims, do not
 produce the fineness and satisfactory re-
 suits obtained by the old slow and cum bersome method on the silver plate. The picture is toned with gold, thus produc- ing a wonderful clearness, likeness ana detail that have defied the march or progress and invention.
 The Daguerreotype was first produced Ill 1S3s and in the same year came also the Talbotype, a process by which chloride of silver was used successfully on paper The first negative of the Talbot process, "Calotype' was produced in 1S4O After this came the Collodian negative on glass, then came the Ambrotype, and later, the present-day method of photo 'aphy, known as the gelatine-bromG.> eniulsion process.
 Great headway Is now being made Tn developing color photography MT. Smil- lie has been signally successful in this line of endeavor, and the results produced by him will be of unusual interest. In 1908 he published a book on 'The Recent Progress in Color Photography" In that year two methods of producing photo- graphs in color, the autochrome and the Warner Powrie processes, were discov- cred.
 The exhibit will contain over 300 mod els' pertaining to photography, trans ferred from the United States patent or
 fee. permanently, as this exhibit is to
 be one of the perpetual features of the
 Smithsonian displays.
 MT. Smillie's discovery of process of photographing on wood, made in 1868, pfoved of great value to wood enSrav- CTS, and this and other work made pos sble his election to fellowship of the Roy
 al Photograph society of London. It was
 this invention that practically gave MT. Smillie his competitor with the govern"
 ment service. Shortly thereafter, Profess
 sor Baird, then assistant secretary of the Smithsonian institution, who was engaged in preparing an elaborate work on North
 American birds, asked the photographer to assist him in It's preparation. Many of the illustrations that appear in this recognized text book were photographed on wood by MT. Smillie for the engrav- CTS. With the coming of the present. day photo-engraving process, wood en- graying has practically become extinct. Since then, MT. Smillie has been con tinuously, with the exception Of a short period of time, been in the service of the government and a large part of the pho
  literature during the intervening years has been his work.
 MT. Smillie regards as one of his most
 important accomplishments in photog- raphy the series of photographs taken of the solar eclipse In 1900 at Wades-
 boro, N. c. These photographs are re- garded as among the most remarkable ever taken. In all eight negatives were secured with the 135-foot telescope, 12
 with 4O-foot telescope and a number of others, all of which will be shown in the collection. In one end of the 133- foot telescope was the lens while the other end terminated in a dark room. A mirror operated by clockworksand known
 as coelostat reflected the image of the eclipse eastward into the camera By
 means of the clockwork the mirror was
 made to revolve once in AS hours so that
 a perfect photograph was thus obtained.
 This negative measured 30 by 30 inches
 and will be one of the most prominent
 in the exhibit.
 The National Museum Exhibit of Pho tography will be of unusual interest. not
 only to photographers but to the public
 in general. It will be the only one of
 is being used in preparing, cataloguing
 and indexing. Among the pictures shown
 one series will illustrate the development
 of color photography and another will show the beginning and progress of spec
 trum photography.
 Mir. Smillie has made photography his
 life work and the results obtained by
 him have the fruits of years of thought,
 experiment and endeavor He is rec ognized authority and expert in his line.
 When the exhibit is put on view the
 Smithsonian institution will have a col lection and history of photography from its inception which it would be prac- tically impossible to duplicate.