Books by British nineteenth or early twentieth century photographers

[Ian Leake]

I'm looking for interesting books to read. There are lots of sources from early American photographers. I would like to find some written by (not about) early British photographers, either technique or aesthetics. Any suggestions?

 

[Gato Diablo]

I have this one that dates to around 1905.

 

[Ian Leake]

I have this one that dates to around 1905.

That looks fun. Now I know what to wear to my next portrait shoot

 

[Alan Johnson]

Search for:
Photography Wiveleslie Abney
Pictorial Horsley Hinton
Both of them were well known in their time.

 

[Ian Leake]

Search for:
Photography Wiveleslie Abney
Pictorial Horsley Hinton
Both of them were well known in their time.

Good suggestions, yes.

I have Abney's 'Platinotype' which is very good. He had the best name of any photographer, ever: Captain Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney, K.C.B., D.C.L., D.Sc., F.R.S., Hon. F.R.P.S., etc. (I think the 'etc' is important). If I remember correctly he ran the Royal Photographic Society for a while.

Horsley's 'Platinotype Printing' is OK, but not as good as Abney & Clark. I had forgotten about him, so will look for more of his writing. Thanks.

 

[snusmumriken]

This doesn’t exactly fit your brief, but you might consider Michael Hines’ [correction, Michael Hiley’s] biography of Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, because it quotes Sutcliffe verbatim and at some length about both technique (and difficulties) and aesthetics of the time.

 

[cowanw]

Pictorial Photography 1905-1940
by J. Dudley Johnston | Jan 1, 1952

The Principles of Photographic Pictorialism
J. DUDLEY JOHNSTON F. C. Tilney. Pp. x + 218 + 80 plates. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1930.)

The Art of Retouching Photographic Negatives: and
Practical Directions how to finish and colour Photographic Enlargements, etc. By Robert Johnson.
Twelfth edition, revised and rewritten by T. S.
Bruce and Alfred Braithwaite. Revised and enlarged by Arthur Hammond. Pp. x + 154 + 16
plates. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1930.)

 

[AnselMortensen]

"Photograms of the Year", published annually from the 1890's - 1950's are fun to peruse.
Unfortunately, many of the 'tipped-in' gravures get removed & sold separately on a certain online auction site.

 

[MarkS]

Helmut Gernsheim's 'The History of Photography'.
Gernsheim was a naturalized British citizen (having escaped Nazi Germany) and one of the first historians of photography (along with his friend Beaumont Newhall).
I find his writing "more English than the English" and quite informative.
And he's quite good on early British photography, which is why I recommend his work here.

 

[snusmumriken]

A lot of the discussion between photographers happened in the periodicals of the time. For instance, Hiley (referred to above) drew (extensively) on Amateur Photographer, The Practical Photographer, The British Journal of Photography, The Photographic News, Photography, Camera Notes, The Journal of the Camera Club, The Studio and The Photographic Journal.

… and made just two references to these books:

Lake Price, A Manual of Photographic Manipulation Treating of the Practice of the Art and its various applications to Nature (second edition, London, 1868).

H. P. Robinson, Picture Making By Photography (second edition, London,
1889)

 

[Ian Leake]

Thank you – lots of wonderful suggestions here. I appreciate it