28th May, 2021 14:00
Anon. c.1840s
PORTRAIT OF AN INVENTOR c.1840s. Ninth plate Daguerreotype portrait, America(?)of a Gentlemen, smiling, possibly John Isaac Hawkins (1772-1855) holding what appears to be the Polygraph letter copying device, the worlds first autopen, famously championed by Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) third President of the United States, who called the Polygraph "the finest invention of the present age" in March of 1804.
The Daguerreotype is presented in fine condition, with a later fitted plain gilded oval Beard Patentee stamped mount, in a maroon Morroco Wharton style leather clamshell case, with a single lower hinge (case size, 80 x 60mm)
Reference:
Bedini, Silvio A. Thomas Jefferson and His Copying Machines. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984.
https://www.amphilsoc.org/item-detail/portable-polygraph-owned-thomas-jefferson
Sold for £750
Includes Buyer's Premium
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