On the action of the rays of the solar spectrum on vegetable colours, and on some new photographic processes

by John Frederick William Herschel, Sir

$9,500 · Offered by Sophia Rare Books

First edition

London: R. & J. E. Taylor, 1842. First edition, extremely rare offprint, of this seminal early work of photography, the invention of the world’s first photocopying process, ‘cyanotype,’ later called ‘blue-printing’; this remained by far the most important reprographic process for more than a century after the publication of Herschel’s paper. This is an extraordinary presentation copy, inscribed

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.