Time Exposure: Early Photographically Illustrated Books

Time Exposure: Early Photographically Illustrated Books. "...Recognised by the publishing industry as 'the most marvellous inventions of modern times,' original photographs began to appear in books by the mid-nineteenth century. Such books were expensive and published for an exclusive market. However, once scientific and technical developments had improved the quality and permanence of photographic images and production costs were lowered photographs became more widely used in books for the mass market. Handmade photographic prints continued to enhance book and periodicals until the late nineteenth century. At that time, various photomechanical processes were introduced that made it possible to transfer an original photograph to a printing block, from which an image could be printed directly on to the actual page of the book, just like the text."