Pre-cinema Original Copper Revolver By Janssen

[JANSSEN (Jules)] TILLY (Auguste), SMEETON (Joseph Burn) and BONNAFOUX Original copperplate representing the detail of the revolver photographed by Jules Janssen and used for the illustration of the article devoted to the "Passage of Venus" in the newspaper La Nature of May 8, 1875, Paris, May 1875. The copperplate measures 82x145mm. It bears the signatures of three illustrators and engravers whose work as draftsman or engraver is difficult to determine exactly: Bonnafoux, Auguste Tilly and Joseph Burn Smeeton. The copper represents the daguerreotype apparatus producing circular prints invented by Janssen in 1874 and used to observe the passage of Venus over the Sun during the eclipse of December 8, 1874. In La Nature of May 8, 1875 (see photo), Camille Flammarion gives a detailed account of the expedition to Japan, its results and the use of Janssen's revolver. This is one of the very first representations of Jules Janssen's camera. An important instrument, along with Marey's photography rifle, in the development of instruments prefiguring the cinematograph invented by the Lumière brothers ten years later in 1895. Perfect condition of the printing matrix, of good size