Points of View

London 1870s and now - 2: Staple Inn, Holborn

This is the second in a series of posts comparing photos of London taken by Henry Dixon in the 1870s with the same view today.

Staple Inn was originally attached to Gray's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court. The original building dates from 1585, but after heavy damage from a German bomb in 1944, it was extensively restored - making it a far more splendid front today than that seen by the 19th-century shoppers of Holborn.

The top picture is Dixon's. A zoomable version of this image is on our Online Gallery. Writing about the building in 1880, Alfred Marks commented: "This is in truth one of the most picturesque groups of Old London houses. They are also among the oldest, dating apparently from the time of James I., or perhaps somewhat earlier... The obelisk, topped by a lamp, marks the City boundary. Just here, opposite to Gray's Inn Lane, stood, till a few years back, Middle Row, narrowing the thoroughfare and blocking the traffic."

Below it is the same view as it appeared in August 2009.

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Brian May

A busy week for astro-physicist Brian May.

On Wednesday he was in the British Library auditorium, introducing the audience to the wonders of early stereoscopic imagery. You can read about the event, and his collection, in the Guardian's review.

If you missed it, we plan to bring you some excerpts soon, although we can't promise a stereoscopic experience.

And on Sunday he reminded us that he can still play the guitar, with a cameo role in the X Factor results show.

London 1870s and now - 1: George Inn Yard, Southwark

This is the first in a series of posts comparing photos of London in the 1870s with the same view today.

The 1870s pictures were taken by Henry Dixon to document parts of London already considered old. Some were about to be demolished, such as the row of decrepit houses in Wych St (now Aldwych); others were destined to be preserved, such as the gatehouse of Lincoln's Inn.

The feted south-bank pub above, the George, is the only surviving example of a pre-1880s London galleried coaching inn. Dixon and others photographed many such inns (such as the White Hart Inn, mentioned in Shakespeare's Henry VI; and the Oxford Arms) just before they were demolished in the pub boom of the 1880s and 1890s. Heavy commercial investment saw every likely pub in London undergo major refurbishment in the ornate, high-Victorian style of the period (of which the best surviving example today is the Princess Louise on High Holborn).

The George, perhaps because of its marginal position on the unfashionable south bank, survived the redevelopment frenzy. It is now a tourist attraction in its own right.

The top picture is Dixon's. A zoomable version of this image is on our Online Gallery. Writing about the George in 1880, Alfred Marks lamented that it had been "a good deal modernised since its re-building after the fire of 1676. Its large courtyard is now used as a railway goods office. The east and north galleries have been so boarded up as to lose all their old character."

Below it is the same view as it appeared during a 'thorough research trip' in August 2009.

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Video 2: Wet Collodion Photographic Process

In 1851 Frederick Scott Archer introduced the wet collodion process.

• Bromide, iodide or chloride salts are dissolved in collodion (a solution of pyroxylin in alcohol and ether).
• This mixture is poured onto a glass plate and allowed to sit for a few seconds.
• The plate is then placed into a solution of silver nitrate and water, which converts the iodide, bromide or chloride salts to silver iodide, bromide or chloride.
• The plate is removed from the silver nitrate solution and exposed in the camera while still wet.
• It is then developed with a solution of iron sulphate, acetic acid and alcohol in water.

Demonstration by Michael Gray (YouTube video. No sound track).

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Video 1: Calotype Paper Photographic Process

William Henry Fox Talbot invented the calotype, the first practical negative-positive photographic process. It was patented by him in 1841.

The concept of negative-positive photography, allowing the production of an unlimited number of prints from a single negative, has formed the basis of photographic practice up until the last few years.

• A sheet of paper is treated with light-sensitive silver compounds before exposure in the camera.
• The image is then developed in gallo-nitrate of silver and fixed.

Demonstration by Michael Gray (YouTube video. No sound track).

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BBC, Guardian, FT

There was more positive press coverage over the weekend, including a very useful slide show on the BBC website, with an audio commentary by John Falconer, Head of Visual Materials and Curator of Photographs.

Also a piece in Guardian Travel; and finally another review in Financial Times Arts.

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Early photography discovery day

There's just a few tickets left for our major free event on Saturday 7 November.

Enjoy, explore and learn about the remarkable early years of photography at a packed day of free talks, displays, workshops and activities.

• Bring in your very old photos and talk to experts about what they show and how best to look after them
• Families with children aged 6 and over can make and use a pinhole camera, with a separate workshop for adults
• Experience the mysteries of Willett & Patteson's Amazing Camera Obscura
• Dress up in Victorian costume and have your photo taken in Madame La Luz's Photographic Parlour
• See the highlights of the British Library photography collection in our magnificent exhibition
• Enjoy a period Magic Lantern Show
• Come to one of our free talks with curator John Falconer and Michael Pritchard, photograph historian

More - all events and activities are free!

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More press coverage

Some great press coverage:

Daily Telegraph on Nelson's Column

Times Archive blogs about the famous Regent's Park hippo

Thanks also to Michael Pritchard for his blog posting on British photographic history. Glad to hear that he enjoyed the opening party last night.

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Just about ready

Press views today - which means that the first visitors are arriving just as the last exhibition labels are going out.

It's looking good for the exhibition opening this evening.

Points of View opens to the public at 9.30 tomorrow morning (gallery closes at 18.00).

Gallery and Shop opening hours

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And one from today's Times Online

Very positive review from Joanna Pitman in the Times this morming: 4/5 stars.

Here are some excerpts, with links to the images:

'Lovely little gems dot the show, such as the photograph taken by Don Juan Carlos, the Duke of Montizon, of the hippopotamus Obaysch that arrived from Egypt in 1852 to live in Regent’s Park Zoo.'

'The exhibition is packed with curiosity and beauty, typified by some charming pictorialist photographs by Peter Henry Emerson, such as Coming Home from the Marshes (1886).'

'Frith was one of the most commercially successful makers of photographic views of the Middle East [...]. One of his finest photographs is The Rameseum of El-Kurneh, taken in 1857.'

'A beautiful velvety photograph by Wilhelm Burger of a village near Yokohama taken in 1869 gives a highly picturesque view of Japan.'

'Napoleon Sarony’s portrait of Oscar Wilde taken in New York in 1882 [...] was later used as the basis for an advertisement for a New York department store.'

'If this is just a taster of the library’s collections, there are many more treats in store for us.'

[CW]