Snapshots of the Past

[United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., east front elevation] – Historic Photo Reproduction

[United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., east front elevation], [ca. 1846] — historic photograph
[United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., east front elevation], [ca. 1846]. Historic photograph from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: [United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., east front elevation], preserved in this historic photograph. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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[United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., east front elevation]

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This daguerreotype shows the east front of the United States Capitol, the side that faced the city and the broad grounds below it. Made around 1846, it predates the extension of the building's wings, which began in the early 1850s, so the structure here is the older central Capitol completed in the 1820s and 1830s under Charles Bulfinch. Daguerreotypes of this period needed exposures of several minutes, which is why the grounds and street look nearly empty and the stonework stands out with such crisp detail.

Created / published[ca. 1846]
Medium1 photograph : half plate daguerreotype.
GenreArchitectural photographs 1840-1850.Daguerreotypes 1840-1850.
NotesPurchase; 1972; (DLC/PP-1972:R01.4). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress). Published in: Viewpoints; a selection from the pictorial collections of the Library of Congress .... Washington : Library of Congress ..., 1975, no. 142. Exhibit loan 4105-L.
SubjectsUnited States Capitol (Washington, D.C.)--1840-1850.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,096 × 3,270 px · prints to 14 × 11 in at 300 dpi
Reference12_United_States_Capitol_W_1846

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