John H. Lovell. Glass plate negative of “White Snowberry,” ca. 1916. The Flower and the Bee. Plant Life and Pollination.

John H. Lovell.

John H. Lovell. Glass plate negative of “White Snowberry,” ca. 1916.

The Flower and the Bee. Plant Life and Pollination.

New York:

Charles Scribner's Sons,

1918.

Gifted in part by Lux Mentis Booksellers.

RBS has a collection of nearly 150 glass plate negatives developed by John H. Lovell (1860–1839), a field naturalist who illustrated his book on plants and pollination with his own photographs. Gelatin dry plates, such as the one used to produce this negative of “White Snowberry,” were the first photographic negative materials to be mass produced. Lovell exposed his plates either in the field or in his studio and then developed them in his dark room. The photographic prints were then used as the basis for the relief halftone blocks used to print the illustrations in his books.

From the collection of Rare Book School