Abstract
This paper reports the results of the first ever scientific investigation of the image substrate of the plates Joseph Nicéphore Niépce brought with him to England in 1827. The First Photograph, in the collection of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin, and the three plates, in The Royal Photographic Society collection of the National Media Museum, were thoroughly documented and analysed using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). The XRF analysis was able to objectively confirm the chemical composition of all four plates and to identify unique characteristics of the material in some of the plates. Our investigation, for the first time, was also able to provide strong evidence attributing at least one of the plates to a particular pewtersmith based on the presence of a touchmark on the back of one of the plates.
Published Version
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