Avril Giacomelli, Hector  (French, 1822-1904)

From the preface… Science has come to second the art to create this Album. It has been printed by a process that removes any intermediary between the designer and the public. Until now, the engraver interpreted the original drawing. Today, the improvements made to the discovery of Daguerre were applied under the direction of Vidal in the workshops of Photochromie permitting the reproduction of as many copies that we want of the original, and just as unalterable as the engravings, without a stroke of the artist’s pencil, without a touch of fading or brush forgetting. In a word, the engraving was a translator, and, according to the Italian word, traduttore, a traitor.  Now, the artist puts in direct communication his thought, his inspiration, with whoever possesses one of these mathematically exact copies. All those who are concerned with the popularization of masterpieces will applaud this revolution.

The images which describe the lives of different species of bird at different stage of the years illustrate the poems of François Coppée (1842-1908).

Mr Leon Vidal, the infatigable of the carbon, collotype, and also of the photochromatic process, presented the Society with a magnificent album of twelve pages bearing the title of Les Mois. The proofs, 8 1/4 x 12 inches, are in fatty ink of diverse colours, which give harmony to the whole; that is to say, each print is of a different tint. THe history of the whole year is admirably told in golden verse by the celebrated François Coppée, and illustrated by the powerful designs of Giacomelli. [1]

Reproduced / Exhibited

De Andere Fotografie de Geschiedenis van de Fotomechanische Reproductie in de Negentiende Eeuw: tentoonstelling in het Zeeuws Museum Middelburg 1989 (The Other Photography the History of Photomechanical Reproduction in the Nineteenth Century: Exhibition in the Zeeuws Museum Middelburg 1989) Exhibited chk.82

References

[1] The British Journal of Photography, No. 872. Vol. XXIV. January 19, 1977 p. 34