Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Photography as a Scientific Implement: A Collective Work
Having made a hole in the window Of the room from which you wish to observe, as large as a spectacle glass, then take an old man's glass convex on both Sides, not concave, like the glasses Of youths with short sight, and when it is fixed in the hole, shut all the windows and doors of the room 'so that no other light may enter except by the lens. Now take a Sheet of paper and place it in front of the glass so that you see clearly all that is outside Of the house. This takes place most distinctly at a determinate distance, found by bringing the paper nearer to or farther from the glass till you have found the proper position. Here you will see the images on the paper as they are, and the gradations, colours, shadows, movements, clouds, the rippling Of water, birds flying, and everything that can be seen. For this experiment the sun must be clear and bright because the sunlight has great power in bringing out the visible images. When it pleases you to make the experiment you should choose the glasses which do best and Should cover the glass so much that you leave a little Of the circumference in the middle which Should be clear and open, and you will see a still brighter effect. Seeing, therefore, on the paper the outline Of things, you can draw with a pencil all the perspective, and the shading and colouring according to nature, holding the paper tightly till you have finished the drawing.
In the foregoing description by Barbaro (1568) it is interesting to note the stopping down Of the lens, and when he Speaks of this giving a brighter image, it is evident that he means a more clearly defined image.
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