This isn't at all S2-related, but....

[SSonnentag]

My mother-in-law just handed me a stack of old 3x5 glass negatives and asked me if there was anything I could do with them. "Sure!" I said. I'm in the process of scanning them using my Epson 2450 Photo scanner (transparency unit) and am impressed with the quality of these old negatives. Basically, I'm wondering what years these were used and any other interesting information you guys might be able to give me about them, how they were made, processed, etc. I'll admit it, I'm clueless. :) I'll post a couple of the scans a little later in the gallery area if anyone is interested.

Shawn

[Swampy]

A quick search yielded me with glass plate negatives of the Wright Brothers, circa 1881-1909 if that's any help...

Here's where I found those:

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/236_wright.html

[SSonnentag]

Ah, I'll just post a couple of snapshots here....

[SSonnentag]

...and this one...

[SSonnentag]

Closeup detail...

[Swampy]

Most 19th century photographs were made on glass plate negatives, excepting of course the Calotype, which used a paper negative, and the Daguerreotype and Tintype, neither of which required negatives. Early glass plate negatives used a process that required them to be coated just before use, and hence were known as "wet-plate" negatives. Although dry plate negatives were introduced as early as 1864, they were not very sensitive, and it was not until after improvements were made that dry plates began to be widely used in the early 1880's. Both wet and dry plates may be further classified according to the emulsions used, usually albument, gelatin or Collodian.

Taken from:
http://www.irishgenealogy.com/class/photos/types/

Lots of information on when and where stuff. Another good page with samples:
http://www.stephenrose.com/process%20page.html

And if you want a real detailed lesson on photography's history:

http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/learn/lessons/97/world/history.html

[Wichita Wayne]

And I'm talking about real BBQ. Slow smoked in a pit with an offset firebox. After all I am from Kansas.

LOL

[lightwrangler]

I won't add to the history, but I have to say that I too am impressed by the quality and the sharpness of the sample shown.

Years ago I had a part time contract job for a university dept, that kept many glass negs. I made contact prints and then copied the contacts so that 8 x10's could be made. When someone wanted a copy of the neg, the department sent out the 8x10s. The negs were kept in a cool dry storage area in archival sleeves away from direct light. While I don't think that scanning them will hurt them, if you want to keep them for a long time you should be careful about exposure to bright light sources as they have a tendancy to fade. Archival sleeves wouldn't be a bad idea either and handle only with cotton gloves.

Thanks for showing us.