Daguerre had received a patent for his…
August 1839 CE
The French Government acquires Daguerre’s patent, and, on August 19, 1839, the French Government announces the invention is a gift "Free to the World."
The work on the Daguerre process had been taking place at the same time as that of Henry Fox Talbot in England on the calotype process.
Both men knew that they were working on a process that will revolutionize the art world.
The popular Grand Tours are illustrated by drawings of scenes and the "photographic" process would improve the quality and ease with which these popular holiday memories could be produced.
To protect his own invention, Daguerre himself had registered the patent for Britain on August 12 (a week before France declared it "Free to the World"), and this greatly slows the development of photography in that nation.
Great Britain is to be the only place the patent was enforced.
Antoine Claudet is one of the few people legally able to take daguerreotypes there
Daguerre does not need to make money from the invention to live, since the French government has pensioned him.
Fox Talbot has spent a considerable amount of money on his process (est. £5,000 in 1830s money) and is keen to recover the costs, which the Daguerre patent blocks.
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