Historedia
EuropeEvent

First published account of Thomas Wedgwood's photography experiments by Humphry Davy

When
1802
Where
Journals of the Royal Institution
Episodes
1

In June 1802, Humphry Davy published an account of Thomas Wedgwood's photographic experiments in the Journals of the Royal Institution. The paper, titled 'An Account of a Method of Copying Paintings upon Glass...', described using light and silver nitrate to create images. This publication marked the first widely known record of these early photographic methods, influencing subsequent scientific research.

Episodes

  1. June 1802 · Journals of the Royal InstitutionPublication of Photographic Account

    Humphry Davy published the first account of Thomas Wedgwood's photographic experiments in the Journals of the Royal Institution in June 1802.

Background and detail

Background. Thomas Wedgwood, an English photographer and inventor, was an early experimenter in photography. He met chemist Humphry Davy at the Pneumatic Clinic in Bristol. Davy later wrote up Wedgwood's work for publication in London's Journal of the Royal Institution in 1802, titling it 'An Account of a method of copying Paintings upon Glass, and of making Profiles, by the agency of Light upon Nitrate of Silver.'

Scientific Impact. The 1802 paper and Wedgwood's work directly influenced other chemists and scientists delving into the craft of photography. Subsequent research shows the paper was widely known and mentioned in chemistry textbooks as early as 1803. David Brewster published an account of the paper in the Edinburgh Magazine in December 1802.

People involved

Sources

  1. Thomas Wedgwood (photographer) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-26
  2. Humphry Davy Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.