We couldn’t resist celebrating St Andrews day with some ‘inspiring illustrations’ of our eponym himself. The cult of St Andrew was actively pursued in Scotland by the 12th century: it was in the interests of the 12th…
Printing out paper, or “P.O.P.” in photo-specialist jargon, constitutes the progression of the photographic print medium following the reign of the albumen print. Strictly speaking, earlier photographic processes such…
In 1850 the albumen print process was invented in France by Louis-Désiré Blanquart-Evrard. Used almost exclusively in combination with glass plate negatives, the clarity and detail of the prints produced by this…
The term “calotype” is from the Greek kalos meaning beautiful. It is the name given to Fox Talbot‘s negative process. The name is often mistakenly applied to photographic “salted paper” prints (positives) which have…
In the 1970s, the Department of Special Collections took in the vast archive of the commercial photographic company known as Valentines of Dundee. This internationally renowned firm was started by James Valentine in…
The photogenic drawing was the first of Fox Talbot’s photographic processes which he would present to the world on the 25th of January, 1839. This process was not what practitioners today would identify as photography…
As part of our 52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations we will explore the Photographic Collection by examining the evolution of photographic processes as they are represented by our holdings. The aim is to underline the…
In September of 2010 as part of the DeMontfort University Photographic History Networking Symposium, curators, archivists and conservators from across Britain and select institutions from Europe and the United States…
Early this morning, 13 June 2012, the Olympic torch will pass through St Andrews on its way down to Edinburgh. The torch is scheduled to be re-lit from a Fife miner’s lantern accompanied by the ringing of the St…
Earlier this year, Howard S. Mott, Inc. brought to our attention a book from their stock which would fit our collection very nicely. The book in question was the very rare and fragile printing of Sir R.L. Playfair’s An…