Major General James Waterhouse, 'Stonehenge, Trilithon (13) on the left of Altar Stone', half-tone photozincograph for the Ordnance Survey Office Southampton under the soprintendence of Captain Parsons R.E:FRAS. Colonel Sir Henry James R.E:F.R.S: & C. Director. 1867.

Photograph of a man standing next to a Trilithon at Stonehenge

Given by Major General James John Waterhouse, 1905

This object was donated by Major General James John Waterhouse to the V&A on the occasion of the exhibition 'Loan Exhibition of Process Engraving' at the V&A in 1905

This print is a very early example of experimental photomechanical process.. James Waterhouse, who made the print, was a career soldier who made significant contributions in a number of technical and historical areas of photography. In 1882 he developed a heliogravure technique for producing half-tone prints. In 1887he introduced a photo-etching process that was a great improvement over photo-collotype because it had greater resistance to variations in temperature and humidity, and could make far more impressions. In 1893 he published a paper on the effect of light on silver salt and devoted the 1899 Trail Taylor Memorial Lecture to an analysis of the daguerreotype process and lessons it held concerning the action of light on silver haolid compounds. During his retirement, Waterhouse engaged more in historical research, but always with an eye on contemporary relevance.

E.5577-1905