Early Street Scene

Robert Cornelius (1809-1893)
Eighth and Market Streets, Philadelphia
Sixth-plate daguerreotype, May 1840
Prints & Photographs Division
Gift/purchase from
Marian S. Carson, 1997 (122.5)

Philadelphia was one of the most "daguerreotyped" cities in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. Made in the heart of the city's commercial district, this early street scene, photographed by Robert Cornelius, shows a laterally correct image, indicating that the daguerreotype was taken through a mirror or a reversing prism.