Implications of the Camera Lucida in Middlebury-- and Beyond

Edwin James’ education (part Natural Philosophy at Middlebury with Hall, part medical school in Albany) led to him being selected to join a trip out west directly following the Lewis and Clark expedition. The team was to document the land west of the Missouri River. He documented 500 new plant species and climbed previously unclimbed mountains such as Pikes Peak in Colorado (Edwin James). His focus wasn’t confined to plants and geology however. Interestingly, Edwin James became a strong advocate for the Native Americans that he witnessed being discriminated and treated unfairly out West. He also had been known to advocate for the humane treatment of dogs and horses. He was extremely angered by the way humans “destroyed” herds of bison as well (Middlebury Edwin James). These ideas are reminiscent of Alexander Humboldt. Humboldt, a scientist, explorer and European precursor to James, had a mission. It is stated in by Wulf in The Invention of Nature: “‘All forces of nature are interlaced and interwoven’ -- how organic and inorganic nature interacted. Man needs to strive for ‘the good and the great.’” (Wulf 51). It seems that James, not unlike Humboldt a few decades before him, understood the interconnectedness of nature. To come to this conclusion, they had to understand the natural world to the furthest extent possible at the time. They likely had a similar set of tools that originated in Europe. The Camera Lucida and as well as others such as the Peep Sight Adelaide, which was used for finding angles over long distances to draw up maps. Additionally, these objects benefited people beyond the explorers they travelled with. The maps, snapshots and sketches created with the camera lucida and other instruments needed to be available to a larger audience. These tools were the means for recording the vast natural environment onto paper. Written research and books were the main way that natural history became useful. Thomas Jefferson recognized that knowledge of the natural world was useful in running the country. This explains his excitement to meet Humboldt, who had collected scientific documents from distant Mexico City on his expedition (Wulf). Jefferson, after hearing the ideas of Humboldt, had formed an opinion-- revolutionary at the time, forgotten now-- that: “Politics and nature belonged together” (Wulf 111).

These early natural philosophers were on the front lines of making raw, untouched land into something that Americans could call their own. The West was only able to be brought back to academic and government institutions through surveying instruments-- such as the camera lucida-- and an education of the natural world, in some cases, provided by Middlebury’s own Frederick Hall. The information documented and brought back East allowed for continued learning and applied uses. Using Hall’s travels and influential scope as a roadmap, it is possible to understand the time period’s state of natural philosophy in Europe, the practices and educational values that Hall as a teacher at an up and coming New England liberal arts college had, as well as the politics and challenges that documenting the West brought.