Rare, original photos – some 150+ years old – will be featured at Boston event Sept. 30

BOSTON, September 14, 2023 – For three days this month – starting Thursday, Sept. 28 – Boston will be the center of the universe for people who love the world’s first photographs. Collectors, dealers, artists, museum professionals and just plain fans of these early camera images will gather from across the globe for the annual meeting of The Daguerreian Society, the leading organization dedicated to the history, technology, art and preservation of early photographs.

A highlight of the three-day Symposium will be the Society’s Photo Fair, which is open to the public and taking place on Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel (in Avenue 34, lobby level). From 10 am to 4 pm, the fair will feature rare and historically important images – most one-of-a-kind and a number related to 19th-century Boston and New England. You will have a chance to not only browse through the past but also buy an authentic piece of history to hold in your hand. 

Thousands of historical photos from as far back as 1840 through the Civil War and up to 1900 will be on display for purchase, as will photographic ephemera and equipment. The images will include daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, cartes de visite (CDVs), cabinet cards, stereographs and other paper photographs. Admission is $10.

  

If that immersion in early photography isn’t enough, you’ll have another opportunity to hunt for photographic treasures later that day: The Society is holding its annual Benefit Auction starting at 8:30 pm on Saturday, and it too is open to the public, via remote bidding. The auction will offer more than 75 lots including over 200 19th-century images. Bidding will be in person at the Boston Park Plaza for Symposium registrants and online through LiveAuctioneers. 

This is the first time in nearly 30 years that the Daguerreian Society, a nonprofit founded in 1988, has held its annual gathering in Boston.

To learn more about the Symposium, photo fair and auction, visit www.daguerreiansociety.org/Symposium.

To download the antique images above, which will be offered at the photo fair or auction, plus other photos from past Society fairs, click here.

Caption info: (Top) Buying and selling at last year's Photo Fair in Chicago. Daguerreotype of a girl and her doll by L. Chase of Boston, ca. 1845-55. Daguerreotype of the Twitchell Estate in Framingham, Mass., circa 1850. Ambrotype of a Civil War naval officer, a fireman 2nd class in Boston in 1859.

About The Daguerreian Society

The Daguerreian Society is the leading organization dedicated to the history, technology, art, and preservation of 19th-century photography. Our international membership brings together photography collectors and dealers, museum professionals, historians, scientists, students, educators, photographers, and artists. A 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 1988, The Daguerreian Society welcomes all who share an interest in early photography. For more information, please visit www.daguerreiansociety.org.

Media contact: Dave Fondiller, media@daguerreiansociety.org

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This year's Benefit Auction – part of our annual Symposium and open to the public via online bidding – is packed with stellar images and other 19th-century treasures, so mark your calendar: Saturday, Sept. 30.  

More than 75 lots of exceptional photographica – including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes, as well as ephemera and equipment – will be offered, starting at 8:30 pm ET.

Bidding will be in person for Symposium attendees and online for others worldwide through LiveAuctioneers. For information on fees and other conditions of sale, visit the Society's Auction page.

Below, a tinted quarter-plate tintype of an Osage couple that will be in this year's auction. To see the full catalog on LiveAuctioneers, click here.

Members may access the latest Quarterly from the Quarterly and Newsletter Archive page in the site's members-only section. The "compact" version is suitable for reading on screen or printing at home. The "print-quality" version is much larger and designed for high-quality printing.  

If you are considering attending the Boston Symposium and haven’t booked your hotel room yet, don't delay. Rates at the Boston Park Plaza, where many of the activities will be held, are going up. Why? Because our original allotment of discounted rooms has been fully booked. The hotel has graciously reserved additional rooms for us at a discount, but they cannot guarantee the original group rate of $289 for every night due to supply and demand. September and October are their busiest months.  A limited number of rooms are still available at $289 on Wednesday, Sept. 27 and Saturday, Sept. 30. But the rates for Thursday and Friday, Sept. 28-29, have climbed to $339. That still represents a discount at the landmark property, just less of one. And after Sept. 15, rates will rise further.  So don’t wait – book your room today! You can always cancel a reservation without penalty more than 24 hours in advance.  Book your room here. Register for the Symposium here.

Don't wait till the last minute! To secure the best price on registration and dealer tables at the Daguerreian Society's 2023 Symposium & Photo Fair in Boston Sept. 28-30, be sure to register by August 28 – just two weeks from today. 

After that, the registration fee for members will rise from $350 to $375. In addition, the cost of a dealer table will jump from $200 to $250. The fee for non-member registration will remain at $400. 

Behind-the-scenes tours of local treasures will be a Symposium highlight. Photo by Carlos Vertanessian

Registration covers all activities and talks during the three-day program, including Thursday's behind-the-scenes institutional tours and opening reception, Friday's talks, and Saturday's Photo Fair, banquet, and live auction. It does not cover other meals, hotel, or transportation. 

To register, click here.

To learn more about the Symposium & Photo Fair, click here.

To see the new detailed agenda (as of today), click here.

To book a room at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel at the Society's special group rate, click here. 

Further details will follow in emails and in the Daguerreian Society Quarterly.

Members may access the latest Quarterly from the Quarterly and Newsletter Archive page in the site's members-only section. The "compact" version is suitable for reading on screen or printing at home. The "print-quality" version is much larger and designed for high-quality printing.  

Inside this issue...

• The National Portrait Gallery's new exhibition, "Duty, Honor, Country: Antebellum Portraits of West Pointers"
  
• Highlights from the recent Hindman & Fleischer's early photography auctions
• A review of Geoffrey Batchen's new book on William Henry Fox Talbot
  
• A preview of the speakers program at this year's Symposium Sept. 28-30 in Boston 
• Leonard Walle remembers Frederick Birkhill, a cofounder of the Michigan Photographic Historical Society

In preparation for its annual Symposium & Photo Fair this fall, the Daguerreian Society is now accepting exceptional consignments for its yearly fundraising auction, to be held September 30 during the conference.

We invite you to take part in this exciting event, whether you’re a member of the Society or someone who wants to participate through consigning a high-quality image or two.

The Society offers extremely competitive commission rates for important daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes. Your property will be featured in a small, curated auction and marketed to private collectors and institutions throughout the world.

The auction will be held LIVE during the Daguerreian Society Symposium and broadcast for live internet bidding worldwide. All commission goes directly to the Society!

Consignment deadline: July 15.

Link to propose consignments: https://forms.gle/TJxUKq4Zu1tRdyyx9

Here's a great dag that sold at our last auction for $32,500 hammer!

Daguerreian Society Board Member Cindy "MotZ" Motzenbecker will give a talk on Tuesday, April 18, at 8 pm ET on vintage occupational photography, drawing on images from her extensive collection. Organized by the Photographic Historical Society of Canada, this is a free event you won't want to miss.

Register soon because space is limited: https://phsc.ca/

At its most recent meeting, the Daguerreian Society Board locked in the when and where of this year's Symposium and Photo Fair. The event will be held from Thursday, September 28 through Sunday, October 1. The hotel will be the landmark Boston Park Plaza in Back Bay, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston will be the hosting institution. Stay tuned for further details!