"There are only two histories available which approach Photography in America in scope, and they are both woefully out of date. Mr. Welling has thoroughly researched his subject, and his rich text is supplemented with facsimile reproductions from magazines, newspapers, and letters of the day, in addition to hundreds of photographs, illustrating every nineteenth-century photography process and technique. Photography in America brings to light many historically significant photographs which are unique in themselves and have never been published before. The book will provide the reader with much groundbreaking information which gives a new perspective on photography's formative years. Mr. Welling has concentrated in particular on the early workings with negative processes; photoengraving; the origins of amateur practice, motion picture camera development; and the birth of American art photography." -- publisher's statement. Includes bibliography, notes, list of principal holdings of nineteenth-century American photographic journals, and list of sources of illustrations.