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[United States Patent Office, Washington, D.C., showing F Street facade, possibly taken from the upper floor of the General Post Office] – Vintage Photo Print

[United States Patent Office, Washington, D.C., showing F Street facade, possibly taken from the upper floor of the General Post Office], [ca. 1846] — historic photograph
[United States Patent Office, Washington, D.C., showing F Street facade, possibly taken from the upper floor of the General Post Office], [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

[United States Patent Office, Washington, D.C., showing F Street facade, possibly taken from the upper floor of the General Post Office] comes to life in this historic photograph, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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[United States Patent Office, Washington, D.C., showing F Street facade, possibly taken from the upper floor of the General Post Office]

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The view shows the F Street facade of the United States Patent Office in Washington, captured in a half-plate daguerreotype made around 1846, probably from an upper floor of the neighboring General Post Office. The Greek Revival building, designed largely by Robert Mills and still under construction during the 1840s, housed the nation's patent models and records. Daguerreotypes like this one, with their mirror-bright silver surfaces, were among the earliest ways Americans recorded their public buildings, and this plate preserves the street front before later additions changed its appearance.

Created / published[ca. 1846]
Medium1 photograph : half plate daguerreotype.
GenreArchitectural photographs 1840-1850.Daguerreotypes 1840-1850.
NotesPurchase; 1972; (DLC/PP-1972:R01.1). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress).
SubjectsUnited States.--Patent Office--Buildings--Washington (D.C.)--1840-1850.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,096 × 3,245 px · prints to 14 × 11 in at 300 dpi
Reference13_United_States_Patent_Of_1846

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