Autograph letter signed, plus photogravure portrait
Publisher Information: Paris: 1901.
Marey, Étienne-Jules (1830-1904). Autograph letter signed to an unidentified correspondent. Bifolium. 2pp. N.p., 10 July 1901. 170 x 114 mm. A few small spots but very good.
Marey was a pioneer in cinematography, inventing devices to record movement over time that permanently altered our ways of visualizing time and motion. Inspired by Muybridge’s photographs of animals in motion, Marey invented a single-camera system capable of decomposing movement into precise phases and recording them on a single photographic plate. This process, which he called “chronophotography,” helped lead the way to the development of the motion picture.
Marey’s letter, while difficult to decipher, refers to photographic subjects: "...Desirous of making my report on chronophotography you have asked for the negatives of my slides which you have been kind enough to take. In my absence, Mr. Bourgeois came to see me and I was sorry that I was absent. Are you in Paris.... Do you have the hours of the Photo-Club, [as] I would like to see you. If you do not have free access to the negatives, I will arrange to come by.... At the beginning of the letter he tells his correspondent that he has been ill for 10 days and still feels fatigued (“J’ai été dix jours malade et je suis encore un peu fatigué”).
Book Id: 48912Price: $500.00