ABSTRACT
In August 1850, seven years after the release of its first issue, the French illustrated weekly L’Illustration published an article by journalist Adolphe Joanne describing his recent trip to California and the bustling cities of San Francisco and Sacramento during the gold rush.1 Six images illustrate the account, four of which note in the caption “From a daguerreian print,” a reference that was soon clarified – a daguerreotype being a plate not a print – and frequently used in the press in the nineteenth century. At the beginning of his article, Joanne states,
In order to convince the most resolute skeptics, we are supporting our contention with irrefutable evidence: we are reproducing as faithfully as possible six daguerreotypes expressly commissioned for L’Illustration. . . . Would a denial of the daguerreotype not be a denial of light itself? Show me the man foolish enough not to believe in the sun and its works!2
