Saturday Morning, January 18, 2025
Chemtrails
Louis ran his forefinger across the tincture bottles. His lab carried all the hallmarks of curiosity, the odor a signature. Lined up upon the upper shelf like soldiers marching les Champs-Élysées, these elements, when equated, could formulate anything. This, along with his research library, offered unlimited possibilities. Jigsaw pieces.
Pair of cloisonné vases, 24" H.
As the modern age advanced, the world shrank. Cultures clashed and styles were shared, reinterpreted, and mainstreamed.
Stereoscopic card - Himalya River, Sutlej, Northern India. The natives would kill a bullock (steer), then take the skin and inflate it. The outcome was a reliable and light boat. And you thought environmental recycling was a new and novel idea.
Alchemy of yesterday underscored scientific labs today. The problem he was facing seemed simple enough, though the path was circuitous. His first steps had been successful. His discovery of a copper plate covered with a thin layer of silver worked. The experiments with silver iodide, when vaporized, turned this surface into a light sensitive state. The breakthrough was startling but triggered a greater issue. Fixing, actually freezing the image. Up to now, photographs simply faded. And, his rudimentary camera, with the shutter opened, took a long exposure time to capture these images. Too long. What if, he thought. It had worked the first time, maybe a second?
Perhaps the invention with the most impact was the printing press. Knowledge shared is advancement gained. The electronic age has hyperspaced this marvel. This Saturday we have a collection of presidential biographies, published in and after presidential time periods.
Philosophers Stoned
For several hundred years, alchemy guided science. The primary goal had always been transmuting base metals into gold. An obsession really. Beyond this alchemic lab, the desire to possess gold drove man crazy. El Dorado, the sought-after legendary city of gold in South America, cost a fortune in money and lives lost. For nothing. Europe's greed for the New World element left a wake of destruction across the Americas and Europe. Years spent. Energy expended.
Tissue stereoscopic cards. The Place de la Concorde & the Louvre. One sparked the French Revolution, the other finished the job. This week we take a stroll through nineteenth century Paris with many stereoscopic views of a past world.
The alchemist sought a shorter route. Discovery of the Philosopher's Stone. Mankind's Magnus Opus. That magic King Midas moment when mortals could touch anything and, Voila!, gold. Guided by lust and power, gold has always been the trigger for something greater. For here was the hand of God. Michaelangelo's Creation. The spark of life. Immortality. Somewhere along the quest, someone had added an L into the spelling, perhaps a mistake, perhaps not.
The Fix is In
And then, Louis observed something in his photographic experiments. If he could time the exposure correctly, judged by the amount of sunlight available, he would capture a latent image, invisible to the eye, but visible through a development process. He returned to vaping once again. Vaporized mercury at 70° C would reveal the image by removing the light sensitivity on the copper plate. There, in his lab, the photographic image appeared, fixed. Once developed, a quick rinse in heated salt water froze the moment in time. A final encasement under glass guaranteed the photos longevity.
Unidentified. Sterling Art Deco pin with hints of Germany and Russia.
Cirque de l'Impératrice, Champs-Élysées, ca. 1853-1870. A Parisian summer venue actually built in 1841. Names changed as did government dynasties. The spot became the home of composer Hector Berlioz. The theater lost its popularity after the Exposition Universalle de 1889 and was demolished.
This process was revolutionary. So progressive, he found no financiers willing to risk their capital. Then fate stepped in. In 1839, Louis Daguerre approached the French Government. There, a deal was reached. Louis would receive a lifetime pension complete with immortality and the government would publish his findings to the world. Vive la France!
All That Glitters is not Gold
The printing press. Light bulb. Microchip. Vaccines. Automobiles. Airplanes. These, and many other discoveries, have carried a tremendous worldwide impact. Their introduction into the human race so incredible, it would be impossible to equate this in money or gold. Diseases once guaranteeing death, have been eradicated. Medicine, although not quite immortal, has certainly extended the human life span.
Japanese. No doubt an inauguration. N'est-ce pas?
Alchemy was the start, but side tracked by shortsightedness. With all the problems in the world today, it is sometimes difficult to realize all the improvements. One need step back for the grander view. The Renaissance, started centuries ago, has reached a velocity today unimaginable. All we need do is hold his planet together. Perhaps an alchemist will find this elixir. One can only hope. In the meantime...
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PAAU 1265L [bb]