Les inventeurs du gaz et de la photographie 1877

This is the title page of ‘The Inventors of Gas and Photography’ by Alfred Auguste Ernouf, published in Paris in 1877. This book reflects the late 19th-century enthusiasm for technological progress. But it’s also a product of a particular moment in the history of French publishing. Note the imprint of Librairie Hachette, a publishing house synonymous with mass education and the spread of republican values through print. Also, in the list of other titles by Ernouf we see stories of French workers and inventors, published for a popular audience. Ernouf’s focus on inventors aligns with the positivist spirit of the age, but his choice of figures elevates French ingenuity. It's no accident that the book was published less than a decade after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, as intellectuals and politicians looked to rebuild French national pride. To understand this book, the art historian consults publishing archives and social histories, always considering the complex interplay of cultural and institutional forces.