the term photographie was coined by Hércules Florence in 1834 using a negative / positive method !
did he invent it ? did an Englishman then nick it (that wouldn't be like the english would it !) ---
more breaking news as it happens!
The "Photography", "photographier", "fotografie" story involves detective work. Here are some interesting findings:
Apparently a recurrent theory for the origin of the form "photographie" is that it is French and it originated from Antoine Hercule Romuald Florence (Hercule to his friends) in Brazil in 1833! The word was apparently suggested to him (but not published) by Joaquim Correia de Mello, a botanist and pharmacist, who was looking for herbal remedies in Brazil. Hercule Florence is also credited as the first inventor of photography by no less than Helmut Gernsheim in his 3rd edition Origins of Photography, 1982, pp81-2.
Hercule Florence was very isolated in the back-blocks of Brazil and his discoveries were not brought to the attention of the world until 1973. Therefore the old histories do not mention him and the new ones do. That is where conventional wisdom now lies. But, and it is a big but, there is more.
The entire Hercule Florence story was built from Florence's diaries, notes, and samples by Boris Kossoy, a Brazilian journalist, and by the recollections and legends preserved by Florence's descendents. A growing skepticism now clouds the scene. Dates don't match, diary pages have two kinds of ink, the technology seems wrong, and new dates have been annotated onto old pages. Original photographic samples are not available for inspection and additional scholarship continues to cast doubt. A key person, Joaquim Correia de Mello, was only 16 years old at the time and not in Brazil!
The whole thing could be a con job or at least an exercise in Brazilian nationalism run wild. This sort of thing has happened before. Remember during the cold war the Russians insisted that they had invented baseball (they said beizbol) before the Americans. Even in Australia there is support for the idea that Hargraves is the true inventor of flight; the Wright brothers merely adding the minor detail of engine power.
Now my trust in authorities is weakened. The French verb "photographier" supposedly dates from 1834. I can't locate it in any confirmatory French etymological source. And the French are sticklers for etymology and language purity. Maybe someone (anyone?) can cite the original reference? Could it be an emanation from Hercule Florence? The German word "photographie" (or "fotografie" after the regularisation of German spelling) that I took on trust from the famous Dr. Rosamund Moon is also elusive. Its 1838 reference can't be found, at least by me. Perhaps the resources of a major library in the USA or Europe could help. So much to learn!
One thing that does look secure is Sir John Herschel's place in the history of photography. Everything is eye-witnessed, documented, archived, and accessible at least in principle. But even here there is a ruction. An idea is afoot that Herschel is the true inventor of photography in 1819. Not because he could get light to make marks on silver chloride, that had been done before, but because he discovered how to fix the image with sodium thiosulphate (hypo). Without fixing there is no photograph, only the potential of one.
Just for fun here is an old but rather familiar bit of bad handwriting:
Photography - Original Manuscript - Sir John F. W. Herschel.
A facsimile by scanner of the very first time the word "Photography" was written down by the very first man to say it: Sir John F. W. Herschel.
The occasion was at a meeting of the Royal Society at Somerset House in London on Thursday 14 March, 1839. Meetings of the Royal Society were great social occasions where the glitterati of the day could meet famous figures of science and industry. The best part was a lavish banquet set for approximately 8.30 pm but before that lectures and presentations were on the agenda. The last presentation before the feast was "Note on the use of Photography or the application of the Chemical rays of light to the purpose of pictorial representation." It is not known how many of the attendees realised that when they heard "Photography" it was for the first time.