Called Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1792 - 1871. Astronomer
About this artwork
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title:Called Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1792 - 1871. Astronomer
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accession number:PGP HA 2038
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artists:Robert Adamson (1821 - 1848) David Octavius Hill (1802 - 1870)
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depicted:
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gallery:
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object type:
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materials:Carbon print
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date created:1843 - 1847
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measurements:21.80 x 17.00 cm
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credit line:Provenance unknown
Robert Adamson
David Octavius Hill
Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson was one of the first professional photographers, setting up in business in Edinburgh in March 1843. He had aspired to be an engineer but his health was too poor. His brother, John, who was involved in the early experiments with photography in St Andrews, taught him the calotype…
David Octavius Hill
A painter and a lithographer by training, David Octavius Hill is best remembered for the beauty of the calotypes he and Robert Adamson produced together. Hill was a sociable and kind-hearted man who did much to support the arts in Scotland and between 1830 and 1836 he was the unpaid Secretary of the newly established Royal Scottish Academy. After Adamson's death, Hill's attempt to start a new partnership with the photographer Alexander MacGlashan around 1860 failed. Hill is to this day revered as one of the first in the trade who transformed photography into an art form.
