Robert Cornelius and Early Pioneering Daguerreotypists Database Project
FAIN: PR-253387-17
CCAHA (Philadelphia, PA 19103-5530)
Rachel Wetzel (Project Director: June 2016 to September 2021)
The development of a database to gather
information about early ungilded daguerreotypes created by an American pioneer
of photography, Robert Cornelius (1809-93), and other early daguerreotypists, and
to assist in the development of future conservation treatment practices.
Led by Rachel Wetzel,
Photograph Conservator at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic
Artifacts, a team of experts in the field of photograph conservation will
design a database for information regarding early ungilded daguerreotypes
(1839-1841), by Robert Cornelius and other early pioneering daguerreotypists,
to assist curators and conservators with responsibilities for the care and
preservation of these important and fragile artifacts. Ms. Wetzel will collect
information on the known existing Cornelius daguerreotypes, as well as other
early ungilded daguerreotypes from this period. The database will be located
and disseminated through the Lens Media Lab website maintained by Paul Messier
at the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. The
establishment of this database is an essential step in developing appropriate
best practices and treatment protocols for these irreplaceable documents of the
earliest years of photography.