American Historical Ephemera and Photography Featuring the Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann

Ninth plate daguerreotypes of John W. Draper (1818-1882) and presumably, his wife Antonia Caetana de Paiva Pereira Gardner Draper (c. 1814-1870). Each housed in a pressed leather case, the brass mat stamped lower right "Rees and Co. 289 Broadway." Craig’s Daguerreian Registry indicates Rees operated a gallery at this address in 1852-1853. 

Draper, an Englishman by birth emigrated to the US and settled in Mecklenberg County, Virginia in 1831 following the death of his father. In England he had received training in chemistry, which he continued in his new country. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1836 he taught at Hampden-Sydney University for a short time before moving to New York City where he took a job at the University of the City of New York (now New York University). He would remain in this academic setting until shortly before his death, holding various positions including the Presidency. It was at that institution that he met and formed a relationship with a fellow Professor, Samuel F. B. Morse. 

In March 1839, Morse visited Daguerre in his Paris studio and learned of the Frenchman’s discovery of how to make photographs. Returning to New York in April he was determined to attempt to make daguerreotypes himself. Recognizing his limitations, he enlisted the help of his colleague and chemist, Draper. From the beginning of the partnership, Draper was the scientific brains behind the collaboration. 

For perhaps a decade before Draper began working with Morse on the Daguerrean process, he had studied the interaction of light in changing the color of metallic salts. His chemical work prepared him well for the problems inherent in the daguerreotype process. When news of the daguerreotype reached America, Draper was ready and soon began making images using a common spectacle glass lens, later changing to a lens four inches in diameter and with a short focal length. Draper was among a handful of New Yorkers who claimed to have made the first portrait daguerreotype in America. Taft (1939: 28-33) devotes considerable attention to disputing Draper’s claim that he was the first but there is little doubt that by the first few months of 1840 he was successful. 

Like others new to the art, Draper recognized the monetary potential of making portraits, and later that spring (1840) partnered with Morse to open a studio on the east side of Washington Park. This was the second in the city after that of Alexander Wolcott and John Johnson. 

On the 23rd of March 1840, Draper gave a lecture at the Lyceum of Natural History of New York and displayed a daguerreotype of the moon – the first ever taken of the lunar surface. The plate was about an inch in diameter and had been exposed for 20 minutes. 

Draper left his partnership with Morse in the fall of 1840 to return to his teaching job. He did not, however, abandon his interest in photography. He continued his experiments with the effects of light, chemicals, and the growing field of photography (Barker 1888). His contributions to the field were recognized in 1859 when he was elected the first president of the American Photographical Society (Welling 1978:135). 

Anyone interested in Draper’s career is hampered by the loss of his papers and libraries in fires which occurred in 1844 and later in 1869. The New York Public Library contains a collection of Draper manuscript material from 1869 up until his death, but these papers do not, however, contain notes from his early career. Draper published extensively and his memorial published by the National Academy of Sciences is a comprehensive retrospective (Barker 1888). In addition to his service with the American Photographical Society, he also served as the President of the American Chemical Society in 1876, and was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences in 1877. 

References Cited:

Barker, George F. "Memoir of Henry Draper (1837-1882) A Paper Read Before the National Academy of Sciences April 18th, 1886." (Accessed through nasonline.org). 1888. Note: Barker erroneously reports Draper was born in 1837; in reality, his birth was in 1818.

Serrano, Dominick A.  “Rees of Richmond: A fresh look at the Combative, Competitive and Brilliant Confederate Photographer Charles Richard Rees." Military Images. 2021.

Taft, Robert. Photography and the American Scene. Dover Publications Reprint. 1939.

Welling, William. Photography in America: The Formative Years 1838-1900, A Documentary History. New York: Thomas E. Croswell Co., 1978.