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William Kennedy Laurie DICKSON
(Le Minihic-sur-Rance, 1860-Twickenham, 1935)
Jean-Claude SEGUIN
2
Les origines (1860-1882)
James Dickson, père de William, est originaire de Liverpool. Après son mariage avec Hannah Berry, il s'installe dans le comté de Cumbria (Angleterre) où naissent Frances et Elizabeth. Lors du recensement de 1841, on le retrouve à Londres (St Marylebone. St John. District 18) avec son épouse Hannah et ses deux enfants. Il exerce alors la profession de lithographe ("Lithographer") et publie un ouvrage d'art consacré à des chefs-d'oeuvre de la peinture, Outlines of Celebrated Pictures :
OUTLINES OF CELEBRATED PICTURES BY JAMES DICKSON.
WOODBURN BROTHERS, LONDON.
This will be a beautiful work for the drawing-room or library table. The object of Mr. Dickson appears to be, to furnish outline copies of the most celebrated pictures of the great masters, ancient and modern. The work is on a, large scale, and the outlines are given with a firm, bold pencil, on tine India paper. The subjects part the first are, Gerard's " Belisarius", Titian's "Diana and Actreon", Vernet's "Dead Trumpeter", Vandyke's "Portrait of Moneade", Both's "Woman driving Cattle", and Wouverman's "Horses, near a Stable." A fine portrait of Vandyke is given as a frontispiece.
Liverpool Albion, Liverpool, lundi 20 novembre 1843, p. 14.
Au cours des années qu'il passe dans la capitale britannique, il publie également des gravures de célébrités.
James Dickson, Joshua King. Imprimé par M & N Hanhart, publié par Robert Roe, puis E. Warren
lithographe, publié le 28 juin 1842
21 7/8 in. x 15 in. (556 mm x 380 mm)
© National Portrait Gallery
De retour dans le comté de Cumbria [1844], son épouse donne le jour à trois autres enfants. En avril 1850, son épouse décède à Jersey :
Death
[...]
On the 22nd, at Jersey, Hannah, the beloved wife of James Dickson, Esq., late of Ashmeadow House, near Milnthorpe, aged 42.
Westmorland Gazette, Kendal, samedi 4 mai 1850, p. 3.
La vie de James Dickson est alors bouleversée. Au recensement de 1851, il réside à Taden (Côte-du-Nord), dans le quartier de La Haye avec ses cinq enfants Frances, Elizabeth, Raynes, Dorothea et Agnes. Il figure comme "propriétaire" et dispose d'un domestique Christophe Simon. En 1852, James Dickson épouse, à Jersey, Élizabeth Kennedy Laurie et leur première fille, Antonia, naît l'année suivante à Taden. La future artiste va donner le suivant portrait de ses parents :
My father and mother were skilled in the use of the pen as in the brush. My father was a good classical scholar, an archaeologist, and a comparative mythologist; my mother a gifted linguist, an adept in folklore, and a scientific musician. With my father I studied the pearls of ancient wisdom and drank in the glories of the classics; with my mother I threaded the mazes of national fancy and music. My parents encouraged me to write, forming my style on the best models.
Chambers's Journal, n1 314, Vol. VII, 5 décembre 1903, p. 56.
Dans les années qui suivent, le couple semble avoir vécu pendant quelque temps au Texas où naît, à Galveston ([1858]), leur fille Linda, Charlotte, Joanna Dickson. Ce séjour prend fin, au plus tard, à la fin de l'année 1859. En effet, en février 1860, Elisabeth Dickson, fille de son premier mariage, décède au Minihic-sur-Ranceet, en août, c'est William qui voit le jour dans le château de Saint-Buc.
Cliché C. D. Les Bords de la Rance. Château de Saint-Buc (début du XXe siècle)
Lors du recensement de population du Minihic-sur-Rance, en 1861, la famille vit dans le quartier Saint-Buc (74) : James Dickson, Laurie-Elisabeth Kennedy et leurs enfants Dora, Hannah, Eugénie (probablement le prénom d'usage d'Antonia), Linda et William. James Dickson figure comme "propriétaire" et la présence de deux domestiques - Jean Marie Lecharpentier et Marie Chernel - atteste d'une certaine aisance. La dernière fille du couple, Evangeline Kennedy Laurie Dickson, voit le jour à Dinan en 1864. Au recensement de 1866, James Dickson réside toujours à Dinan avec son épouse et quatre de ses enfants: Antonia ("Antonin" sur le registre), Linda, William et Evangeline ("Eon"). Il figure comme "rentier". Dans ses souvenirs, Antonia évoque ses études musicales :
I took up my abode in the centres of Leipzig and Stuttgart, studying under Moscheles, Johann Zschoeher, Sigismund, Lebert, and the Court pianists of Würtemberg, Prückner and Wilhelm Kruger.
Chambers's Journal, n1 314, Vol. VII, 5 décembre 1903, p. 56.
Le décès de James Dickson, en octobre 1869, pourrait coïncider avec la présence de sa fille et peut-être du reste de la famille à Leipzig :
DEATHS
DICKSON.-On the 11th of October last, at Leipzic, Germany, James Dickson, Esq., late of Liverpool, England, father of Raynes Waite Dickson of this city, aged 61 years.
The Argus, Melbourne, vendredi 24 décembre 1869, p. 4.
La disparation du père entraîne probablement des changements familiaux dont on ne connaît pas l'ampleur, faute de documents. C'est un nouveau deuil, le décès de Linda Dickson, à Dinan en 1873, qui indique que les Dickon ont encore des attaches en France. Curieusement, lors de l'enregistrement, il est indiqué "père et mère vivent". La presse locale évoque la triste nouvelle :
Mlle L. Dickson.-Une estimable famille anglaise résidant à Dinan, et dont le nom est bien connu dans le monde des arts, la famille Dickson, vient aussi d'être plongée dans un deuil profond, par la perte de Mlle Linda Dickson, morte au printemps de la vie, à quinze ans ! après des souffrances inouïes, dans les bras de sa respectable mère désolée.
Mlle L. Dickson était soeur de la jeune artiste dont nous avons eu l'occasion de signaler le remarquable talent dans les colonnes de ce journal.
Une foule sympathique d'Anglais et de Français a conduit au champ du dernier repos la dépouille de cette chère enfant, si prématurément ravie à l'affection de ses dignes parents.
L'Union Malouine et Dinannaise, Dinan, dimanche 30 novembre 1873, p. 3.
Dans les années qui suivent, la famille semble être retournée en Grande-Bretagne, c'est le cas au moins d'Antonia Dickson, soeur aînée de William, qui est une artiste confirmée qui donne des récitals, écrit et traduit des poèmes dans le Chambers's Journal et donne des cours de français et d'allemand. Elle obtient également le titre de "Associate of the College of Organists". En ce qui concerne William Dickson, il vit à Londres au début de l'année 1879. Il écrit, en effet, le 17 février, un courrier à Edison pour lui demander de faire partie de son équipe :
In the year 1879 at the age of 19 I had read much of a Mr. Edison in America and his scientific experiments, and so wrote to him to inquire wheter he would take me on his staff of experimenters.
W. K. Laurie Dickson, "A Brief History of the Kinetograph, the Kinetoscope and the Kineto-Phonograph", Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. XXI, nº 6, décembre 1933, p. 435.
Peu après, il reçoit une lettre où le savant décline son offre :
Menlo Park, N. J.
March 4, 1879
William Kennedy Laurie Dickson,
Care of Mrs. Aubin,
2 Tregunter Road. London W.
Dear Sir,
You favor of the 17th ult. has just been rec'd.
I cannot increase my list of employees as I have concluded to close my works for at least 2 years, as soon as I have finished experiments with the electric light.
Very truly,
T.A. Edison.
W. K. Laurie Dickson, "A Brief History of the Kinetograph, the Kinetoscope and the Kineto-Phonograph", Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. XXI, nº 6, décembre 1933, p. 435.
Selon ses souvenirs, c'est lui qui va pousser sa mère et ses sœurs à partir aux Etats-Unis :
However, in spite of this, I persuaded my mother and sisters to pull up stakes, and after a stormy crossing we landed in New York and continued down to Richmond, Virginia by the Old Dominion S. S. Line.
W. K. Laurie Dickson, "A Brief History of the Kinetograph, the Kinetoscope and the Kineto-Phonograph", Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. XXI, nº 6, décembre 1933, p. 435.
Peu après, la mère, Elizabeth Kennedy Laurie, décède, à Petersburg, le 28 juin 1879 :
Death of a Foreigner.-Mrs. Dickinson [sic], a lady from Scotland, who recently resided in the vicinity of Chesterfield Courthouse, died last Saturday afternoon after a long illness. She came to this country a few weeks ago in company with her daughter, who is said to be a musical prodigy, having won a medal in the international contest several years ago in Europe for being one of the best performers on musical instruments.
Daily Dispatch, Richmond, 1er juillet 1897, p. 1.
Les enfants doivent dès lors se prendre en charge, C'est le cas d'Antonia Dickson qui fait passer une annonce pour donner des cours de musique et de langue.
Daily Dispatch, Richmond, 3 novembre 1879, p. 1.
William et ses deux sœurs sont toujours recensés en 1880 en Virginie (Petersburg). Leur présence est encore attestée en août 1882 :
The Misses Dickson and brother are here from Scotland, though natives of France. The senior sister, only twnty-six years old, has given piano concerts in Great Britain, Germany and France, and has received honors from celebrated musical institutions of Europe. Miss Eva, eighteen years old, has a superb voice, and expects soon to make her début in New York. The brother accompanies his sisters with a fine tenor, and is also given to the pencil art.
Daily-Index, Petersburg, août 1882. [cité dans SPEHR, 2008: 18].
Il faut alors situer leur installation à New York au-delà de cette date. En mars 1883, Eva fait passer une annonce qui semble bien indiquer qu'elle est déjà dans la zone.
The Yonkers Statesman, Yonkers, 1er mars 1883, p. 3.
Les premières années Edison (1883-1886)
Si dès 1879, W. K. L. Disckson semble avoir tenté d'intégrer l'entreprise de Thomas A. Edison, ses différentes tentatives ultérieures ne sont pas plus fructueuses comme on peut le lire dans ce courrier, non daté par Dickson, mais où une autre main a ajouté "(1883-03-28)". Du même jour, une lettre de recommandation est envoyée par l'artiste peintre Raymond Sayer.
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| W.K.L. Dichkon, Mr Insull, New York, [28 mars 1883]. | Raymond Sayer, Thomas A. Edison, New Brighton, 28 mars 1883 |
Les deux courriers conjoints vont sans doute avoir leur effet et Thomas A. Edison va enfin accepter de recevoir W. K. L. Dickson. Voici la version, sans doute romancée, que ce dernier donne de cette première rencontre :
After residing there for two years, we youngsters made for New York City early in 1881 [sic]. I took my book of credentials, etc., to show to Mr. Edison at his office at 65 Fifth Avenue, in case I should be lucky enough to gain an interview.
My reception was unique. "But I told you not to come, didn't I?" said Mr. Edison. I agreed, but told him I couldn't have done otherwise after reading about the work in which he was engaged. He watched my face while turning my testimonials over, until I had to remind him please to read them. He only replied, "I reckon they are all right; you bad better take your coat off and get to work." I had won.
He then gave me a note to Mr. Charles Clark, chief mathematician, and another to Mr. W. S. Andrews, superintendent of the Goerk St. testing and experimental department of the Edison Electric Works, under whose able and kindly tutelage I secured a good knowledge of what was wanted. The following year, with Mr. Edison's approval, Mr. W. S. Andrews gave me his place while he traveled through the United States planning and erecting electric light and power stations.
W. K. Laurie Dickson, "A Brief History of the Kinetograph, the Kinetoscope and the Kineto-Phonograph", Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. XXI, nº 6, décembre 1933, p. 435-436.
Toujours est-il que quelques semaines plus tard, un nouveau courrier permet de confirmer que W. K. L. Dickson travaille désormais pour le génie de Menlo Park.
W. K. L. Dickson, Thomas A. Edison, 23 mai 1883.
Affecté à la Edison Electric Light Co. Testing Room, Dickson réalise des essais sur différents procédés électriques.
Edison Electric Light Co. Testing RoomDynamo Test. W. K. L. Dickson, 18 juillet 1883.
Les différents courriers conservés dans The Thomas A. Edison Papers sont en relation directe avec les activités de Dickon au département des tests : 12 décembre 1883, 6 juin 1884, 28 septembre 1885, etc. Il s'agit d'une période particulière stimulante et féconde de son existence comme il le soulilgne lui-même :
My tests and experiments under Mr. Edison's direct instructions were indescribably interesting. We attempted to arrive at a fixed standardization of all electrical apparatus for home and power stations, such as type of dynamo, motors, lamps, meters, etc. One test of series of expermients stands out very clearly in my mind. I hada the good fortune to help Mr. Edison to determine the meaning of the "Edison effect," or first concept of the famous "valve" used now in radio apparatus.
W. K. Laurie Dickson, "A Brief History of the Kinetograph, the Kinetoscope and the Kineto-Phonograph", Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. XXI, nº 6, décembre 1933, p. 435-436.
L'année 1886 va particulièrement compter dans la vie privée de William Dickson avec un retour à Petersburg, en avril :
Petersburg
Mr. W. K. L. Dickson, of New York, is visiting friends in the city.
Richmond Dispatch, Richmond, dimanche 4 avril 1886, p. 4.
Il s'agit en réalité de préparer son prochain mariage avec Lucy Agnes Archer, qui a lieu le 21 avril :
COCKADE CITY.
[...]
(Correspondence of the Richmond Dispatch.)
PETERSBURG, April 21, 1886.
Grace Episcopal church was crowded with a brilliant and fashionable assemblage this afternoon, the occasion being tho marriage of Mr. William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, of New York, and Miss Lucy Agnes Archer, daughter of A. L. Archer, Esq., of this city. The ceremony took place at 2:30 o'clock, Rev. Churchill J. Gibson, D. D., officiating. The bride is one of the brightest, most attractive and accomplished ladies of our city, and the number of her friends is only limited by her large acquaintance, a great many of whom reside in Richmond. The groom is of Scottish birth, the son of James Dickson, a distinguished artist, and Elizabeth Kennedy Laurie, of Woodhall, one of the most brilliant ladies of Scotland. Mr. Dickson and sisters resided in Virginia for several years before removing to New York. There until recently he was with Edison, the great inventor, and between the two the warmest friendship exists.
The bride was married in a very handsome dress of navy-blue canvas-cloth. Among the wedding guests were the following from Richmond: Mr. and Mrs. Alexander W. Archer and Miss Dele Archer, Mr. and Mrs. Westwood Armistead, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Talbott, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Talbott, Mrs. Charles Talbott, Mr. Ellis Talbott and Mr. Charles Ellis, Mr. and Mrs. George Warren, Mr. and Mrs. William Pemberton, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Branch, Miss Branch. Mrs. Fitchett, Misses Maggie and Jennie Munford. Mrs. John Lyon and Mrs. Parham.
After the ceremonies at the church there was a reception and an elegant lunch at the residence of the bride's parents, on west High street. The residence was beautifully decorated and adorned with flowers and evergreens. The happy couple were the recipients of many handsome presents and of the heartiest good wishes for their future.
The guests from Richmond came over on the noon train and returned on the 5 P. M. train, which also carried away the bride and groom. Mr. and Mrs. Dickson will spend a few days in Washington, Baltimore, and New York. They will sail from the last-named city on the 28th instant in the City of Rome for England, and will be abroad about one year. They will be accompanied on their trip abroad by Miss Carrie Pace and Mr. Ellis Talbott, of Richmond.
But few marriages of recent occurrence in our city have attracted more attention in social circles than this has done.
Richmond Dispatch, Richmond, jeudi 22 avril 1886, p. 4.
Le couple entreprend alors un long voyage de noces qui va les conduire en Europe où ils vont séjourner pendant plusieurs mois. De ces quelques mois, l'épouse Lucy va rapporter un article A Reminiscence of Anton Rubinstein qui offre quelques informations à la fois sur la rencontre avec le célèbre pianiste et sur certaines étapes de leur déplacement en Europe. Le couple arrive à Londres, probablement en juillet, puis il se rend à Saint-Pétersbourg où il rencontre l'artiste le 27 août 1886. William Dickson se rend également à Prague, en septembre, où il loge à l'Hotel Englischer Hos. et à Vienne (Autriche-Hongrie), quelques jours plus tard, où il descend à l'hôtel Impérial... Après plusieurs mois, William et Lucy sont de retour en avril 1887 :
Mr. and Mrs. W. K. L. Dickson, who went abroad a year ago on a bridal tour, and who have visited all the countries of Europe during their visit, are expected to arrive in New York on Saturday on the steamship Etruria. After spending a few days in New York and Philadelphia they will return to Petersburg.
Richmond Dispatch, Richmond, vendredi 22 avril 1887, p. 2.
C'est en effet à bord de l'Etruria qu'ils arrivent à New York le 23 avril 1887.
[William Dickson] [D.R.]
Les images animées chez Edison (1887-mai 1895)
À son retour, W. K. L. Dickson reprend ses activités auprès de Thomas A. Edison. Il aurait été affecté au nouveau laboratoire qui est en train d'être construit à New Orange. Le génie de Menlo Park cherche, alors, à inventer un nouvel appareil susceptible de reproduire des images animées. Dans un document publié dans The Century Magazine, en juin 1894, il raconte comme lui est venue cette idée:
In the year 1887, the idea occurred to me that it was possible to devise an instrument which should do for the eye what the phonographe done for the ear, and that by a combination of the two, all motion and sound could be recorded et reproduced simultaneously.
DICKSON, 1894: 206.
Au cours de ces différentes étapes, William Dickson va être étroitement associé aux recherches de Thomas A. Edison. Dans un premier temps, s'inspirant du fonctionnement du phonographe à cylindre, des essais sont effectués:
The initial experiments took the form of microscopic pin-point photographs, placed on a cylindrical shell, corresponding in size to the ordinary phonograph cylinder. These two cylinders were then placed side by side on a shaft, and the sound record was taken as near as possible synchronously with the photographic image impressed on the sensitive surface of the shell. The photographic portion of the undertaking was seriously hampered by the defects of the materials at hand, which however excellent in themselves, offered no substance sufficiently sensitive. How to secure clear-cut outlines, or indeed any outlines at all, together with phenomenal speed, was the problem which puzzled the experimenters. The Daguerre, albumen, and kindred processes met the first requirements, but failed when subjected to the test of speed. These methods were therefor regretfully abandoned, a certain precipitate of knowledge being retained, and a bold leap was made to the Maddox gelatine bromide of silver emulsion, with which the cylinders were coated. This process gave rise to a new and serious difficulty. The bromide of silver haloids, held in suspension with the emulsion, showed themselves in an exaggerated coarseness when it became a question of enlarging the pin-point photographes to the dignity of one eighth of an inch, projecting them upon a screen, or viewing them through a binocular microscope. Each session of size augmented the difficulty, and it was resolved to abandon that line of experiment, and to revolutionize the whole nature of the proceedings by discarding these small photographs, and substituting a series of very much larger impressions affixed to the outer edge of a swiftly rotating wheel, or disk, and supplied with a number of pins, so arranged as to project under the center of each picture. On the rear of the disk, upon a stand, was placed a Geissler tube, connected with an induction coil, the primary wire of which, operated by the pins, produced a rupture of the primary current, which, in its turn, through the medium of the secondary current, through the medium of the secondary current, lighted up the Geissler tube at the precise moment when a picture crossed its range of view. This electrical discharge was performed in such an inappreciable fraction of time, the succession of pictures was so rapid, and the whole mechanism so nearly perfect, that the goal of the inventor seemed almost reached.
DICKSON, 1894: 206-208.
Comme l'explique Dickson, ces premières expériences vont échouer. De ces essais, il ne reste semble-t-il aucun matériel. De cette époque, l'on connaît une photographie où William Dickson se tient debout (le premier à gauche) à côté d'Edison assis devant l'une de ses inventions.
Edison and his Chief Assistants, 1889
A. and "W. K. L. Dickson, "The Life and Inventions of Edison"
Cassier's Magazine, vol. III, nº 18, avril 1893, p. 452.
Thomas A. Edison va donc s'orienter vers une nouvelle solution basée sur l'utilisation d'un tambour mobile.
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| Cylindre de kinetograph nº 3 ([juin-juillet 1889]) reproduit dans: SPEHR, 2008: 140. |
Cylindre de kinetograph (c. 1889) Source: Thomas Edison National Historical Park. National Park Service |
Le cylindre de 4 1/2" de diamètre et de 3" est enfilé sur une tige filetée dotée d'un mouvement latéral rotatif. Le film ou papier photographique enroulé sur le cylindre permet de prendre de 600 à 700 photogrammes à un rythme de 8 à 10 images par seconde. Pour visualiser les images de petite dimension, il faut utiliser un microscope. Voici la description qu'en donne Dickson :
Then followed some experiments with drums, over which sheets of sensitized celluloid film wew drawn, the edges being pressed into a narrow slot in the surface, similar in construction to the old tin-foil phonograph. A strating-and-stoppping-device very similar to the one now in use was also applied. The pictures were then taken spirally to the number of two hundred or so, but were limited in size, owing to the rotundity of surface, which brought only the center of the picture into focus. The sheet of celluloid was then developed, fixed, etc., and placed upon a transparent drum, brustling at its outer edger with brass pins. When the drum was rappodly turned, these came in contact with the primary current of an induction coil, and each image was lighted up in the same manner as described in the previous disk experiment, with this difference only, that the inside of the drum was illuminated.
DICKSON, 1894: 208.
Monkeyshines nº 2 (21-27 novembre 1890).
À cette époque, la proximité entre Edison et Dickson est telle que le premier, chose exceptionnelle, va partager l'un de ses brevets avec le second pour un "magnetic ore-separator" (US434,588 du 19 août 1890).
La solution du cylindre n'ayant pas donné satistaction, Thomas A. Edison va trouver son inspiration dans les travaux d'Etienne-Jules Marey.
Pour ce faire, il va s'adjoindre les services du mécanicien William Heise. On doit à William Dickson quelques explications sur ce dernier prototype:
The new step was the adoption of a highly sensitized strip of celluloid half an inch wide; but this proving unsatisfactory, owing to inadequate size, one-inch pictures were substituted on a band one and a half inches wide, the additional width being required for the perforations on the outer edge. These perforations occur at close and regular intervals, in order to enable the teeth of a locking-device to hold the film steady for nine tenths of the one forty-sixth part of a second, when a shutter opens rapidly and admits a beam of light, causing an image or phase in the movement of the subject. The film is then jerked forward in the remaining one tenth of the one forty-sixth part of a second, and held at rest while the shutter has again made its round, admitting another circle of light, and so on until forty-six impressions are taken a second, or 2760 a minute. This speed yields 165,600 pictures in an hour, an amount amply sufficient for an evening's entertainment, when unreeled before the eye. By connecting the two ends of the strip, and thus forming a continuous band, the pictures can be indefinitely multiplied. In this connection it is interesting to note that were the spasmodic motions added up by themselves, exclusive of arrests, on the same principle that a train record is computed independent of stoppages, the incredible speed of twenty-six miles an hour would be shown.
DICKSON, 1894: 208.
Si le terme "kinetograph" n'est pas nouveau, c'est en fait en mai 1891 que la presse s'en empare pour évoquer l'état des recherches d'Edison en matière d'images animées. Ce dernier a annoncé, en effet, qu'il est sur le point de finaliser un nouvel appareil susceptible de combiner l'image et le son. C'est à l'occasion d'un passage à Chicago, pour l'Exposition, qu'il va évoquer cette question:
"What is one of these novelties?"
"The kinetograph. What does that mean? The first half of the word means 'motion' and the other half write. That is, the portrayal of motion. This instrument or result is a combination of photography and phonography. By means of it I shall be able to reproduce an opera, prize-fight, or a drama - anything which human beings enact that may be photographed or heard. Facial expressions, the twitching of the muscles, the modulation of the voice may be reproduced. The latter feature is the phonograph. The former and the combination of the two is the burden of my work."
"What success are you having with experiments?"
"I can reproduce a prize-fight without much difficulty. The varying expressions of the face, the gathering and relaxation of the muscles are as yet a little hazy in reproduction, but I shall bring them out distinctly in the end."
How It Is Done.
"In what manner do you reproduce this?"
"On a screen. Photography with certain electrical appliances will do this, and when the process is completed the reproduction will be lifelike."
"Then a chorus or drama may be presented?"
"Yes. A perspective view of the stage may be reproduced. The entrance and exit of the actors just as they take place in the actual presentation and all their facial expressions and other movements may be shown. While the actors are performing in the picture phonographs in exact harmony with the gestures will do the talking. This is my latest novelty. It will be at the World's Fair provided I be given sufficient room."
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, mercredi 13 mai 1891, p. 2.
Toutefois, il a pu présenter des essais au journaliste qui s'est rendu dans son laboratoire ainsi qu'à certains membres de la Federation of Women's Clubs qui ont pu découvrir l'avancée des recherches le 20 mai.
The Sun, New York, jeudi 28 mai 1891, p. 2.
Et plus particuliìerement la vue d'un collaborateur qui ôte son chapeau et s'incline :
To illustrate what he had said, Mr. Edison took one of the rolls of gelatine film which had been through the kinetograph and showed it to the reporter. On it was photographed one of the boys in his laboratory. The photographs were about half an inch square and were taken in the film at invervals of about one inch. They represented the boy in the act of taking off his hat and bowing. Between the first view and the last of the series the complete motion of removing the hat and making the bow was clearly discenable, but between any two consecutive views there was no apparent change in the position of the boy's arm or head. In the first view the boy's hand was at his side, gradually it was raised toward his head, and his head inclined forward. Then the hat was removed and the bow completed, after which the hat was replaced.
The Sun, New York, 28 mai 1891, p. 2.
Cette description est à rapprocher d'un fragment conservé de vue animée où l'on distingue William Dickson qui retire son chapeau.
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| Dickson Greeting (<28 mai 1891) | A Hand Shake ([10]/1892) |
Pour ces essais, Edison emploi une bande de 3/4 de pouce (19 mm). Quelques semaines plus tard, ce dernier va déposer deux brevets pour le kinetograph (US589168. 24/08/1891) et un appareil de projection (US493426. 24/08/1891)
Ce format réduit ne donne pas totalement satisfaction, car la qualité est insuffisante. Quelques mois plus tard, grâce à la suggestion de William Dickson, c'est une bande de 35 mm qui est adoptée et qui devient par la suite le format standard. Il évoque, tout en se trompant de date, son rôle dans le choix de cette solution :
At the end od the year 1889 [sic], I increased the width of the picture from 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch, ten, to 1 inch by 3/4 inch high. The actual width of the film was 1 3/8 inches to allow for the perforations now punched on both edges, 4 holes to the phase or picture, which perforations were a shade smaller than those now in use. This standardized film size of 1889 has remained, with only minor variations, unaltered to date.
DICKSON, 1933: 451
DICKSON, 1933: 452.
Au cours de l'année 1892, le nouveau kinetograph est testé, mais l'on ne connaît que quatre films dont des séries chronophotographiques sont publiées dans The Phonogram (octobre 1892). Sur l'une d'elle, A Hand Shake, on reconnaît William Dickson et William Heise.
W. K. L. Dickson, qui depuis des années pratique la photographie, signe de nombreux clichés. Outre ses contributions à la société du génie de Menlo Park, on connaît de lui des photographies "extraordinaires" où il se met lui-même en scène.
The American annual of photography and photographic times almanac for 1895, New York, The Scovill & Adams Company, p. 162.
Alors que le kinetograph est pratiquement au point, il reste à poursuivre les recherches et à lancer la réalisation du kinetoscope et la construction du "studio" la Black Maria qui commence en décembre 1892.
Black Maria (mars 1894)
Dickson et Heise continuent à travailler ensemble. Toutefois, en février, Dickson tombe malade et se rend en Floride pour récupérer. Au cours de cette période, plusieurs documents témoignent de cette situation. Un premier courrier de Dickson a Alfred Ord Tate, en date du 6 février 1893, indique qu'il se trouve à Savannah. Pendant son absence, sa soeur Antonia prend quelque peu le relais comme en témoigne une lettre envoyée à F. Z. Maguire le 15 février 1893 ainsi que celle qu'elle reçoit d'Alfred Ord Tate le 6 mars 1893. Ce dernier envoie d'ailleurs, ce même 6 mars, une lettre à W. K. L. Dickson où il lui fait le point sur la situation et lui souhaite un prompt rétablissement :
I sincerely hope that your sojourn at Myers is benefiting you, and that you will soon return to us with your health completely restored. How have you been since your arrival in Florida?
Les problèmes de santé de Dickson vont avoir pour fâcheuse conséquence le retard de l'élaboration du kinetoscope comme le lui dit Tate:
The Kinetograph [sic] model is, I understand, all but completed, and manufacture of the instrument can soon be commenced.
Ce n'est finalement qu'en avril que Dickson est de retour et reprend ses activités professionnelles alors que Thomas A. Edison vient de négocier la concession du kinetoscope pour l'Exposition Universelle qui va se tenir à Chicago du 1er mai au 30 octobre 1893.
William K. L. Dickson est également une pièce maîtresse dans la production de la société. Il tourne ainsi en 1893, A Blacksmith, Horse Shoeing et The Barber Shop.
A Blacksmith (avril-mai 1893).
C'est le premier film qui est proposé lors de ce qui est considéré comme la première présentation publique du kinetoscope qui a lieu au Brooklyn Institute, le 9 mai 1893 :
WIZARD EDISON.
A Wonderful Instrument of His Exhibited in Brooklyn.
IT IS THE KINETOGRAPH, AND IT PUTS ACTUAL, MOVING LIVE BEFORE THE EYE-DESCRIBED BY JOHN M. HOPKINGS, OF THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE-HUNDREDS VIEW THE MECHANISM.
The kinetograph, Edison's wonderful new invention, by means of which a moving, living scene is brought before the eye, while the ear hears the accompanying sounds, was publicly exhibited for the first time anywhere at the annual meeting of the Department of Physics of the Brooklyn Institute, which took place last evening. The instrument which was exhibited, however, only presented the moving picture without the noises accompanying. But even in this form it was startling in its realism and beautiful in the perfection of its working.
The scene represented was a blacksmith's forge, with three men alternately hammering the white hot metal, passing the bottle from hand to hand, drinking from it and then resuming their toil at the smithy-all done with amazing quickness, naturalness, and truth. The very sparks from the forge could be seen tying. To the observer the first thought was: "This is Nature," and the second, "How did even 'Wizard' Edison succeed in putting real life so perfectly and truthfully in any piece of mechanism, however intricate?"
Before the exhibition of the new instrument, new officers of the Department of Physics were elected: President, Prof. Samuel Sheldon, of the Polytechnic Institute; Vice-President, Prof. W. Gould Levison; Secretary, James R. Priddy; Treasurer, P. H. Vaneveren.
[...]
After showing in the lantern two or three sections of the kinetographs, to give an idea of how they looked, the kinetograph was opened for use and the audience passed up the right of the stage, took a view of the scene presented and passed on. Mr. Hopkins stated that the present instrument, among a number of others, was going to Chicago, there to be exhibited in the Fair grounds as a penny-in-the-slot machine. W. Kennedy Dickson, the expert who brought the machine from the Edison laboratory, has been engaged in perfecting, under Edison's direction, for five years. The pictures taken by the camera can scarcely be distinguished from one an other, so slight is the difference between successive views. This explains the continuity and unbroken character of the scene as presented in the kinetograph.
The Standard Union, New York (Brooklyn), mercredi 10 mai 1893, p.5.
Malgré cette première réussite, l'entreprise Edison ne va pas parvenir à fournir les 25 kinetoscopes prévus pour l'Exposition Universelle de Chicago de 1893.
Edison Laboratory employees in the laboratory courtyard, July 31, 1893, West Orange, New Jersey.
[De bas en haut, au deuxième rang, Dickson est le 3e à partir de la droite]
Source: National Park Service [D.P.]
Le retard qui est alors pris explique sans doute la très faible production de cette année. Finalement, vers la fin de l'année 1893, William Heise et William Dickson vont s'atteler à la tâche, le premier comme responsable du mécanisme et le second effectuant des contrôles de détails. Le 14 novembre 1893, W. K. L. Dickson dépose, en son nom, le premier copyright à la Library of Congress pour le film A Blacksmith. Cela constitue, sans aucun doute, un acte fondateur de la production commerciale de la société.
W. K. L. Dickson, To the Library of Congress, 14 novembre 1893.
© Library of Congress
À ce moment-là, William K. L. Dickson est le producteur et cinématographiste des films Edison.
Au début de l'année 1894, les premiers kinetoscopes sont prêts et ils sont livrés aux associés Raff et Gammon. Il publie également, en collaboration avec sa sœur Antonia Dickson, The Life And Inventions Of Thomas Alva Edison.
Tout au long de 1894 et dans les premiers mois de 1895, il va tourner, sans doute en collaboration avec William Heise, un nombre important de films dont il détient le copyright. Il livre quelques titres dans un article publié en 1933 avec quelques imprécisions chronologiques :
The camera end of the "Black Maria" used to be swung around and such pictures taken through a small window inside the darkroom. The lighting and stage were so great an improvement, that I repeated several of the subjects I had taken earlier in the 1889 studio, such as the organ grinder and monkey, Sandow, and some others. I can give only an inadequate list of subjects, most of which were taken in the "Black Maria," built in 1891-92 [sic]. A partial list of subjects taken at Edison's laboratory between 1889 and 1895 follows:
Trick Dog Teddy and other Dog and trick Cats.
Madame Bertoldi, contortionist.
The Gaiety Girls.
Colonel Cody's (Buffalo Bill) Shooting Skill.
Colonel Cody and his Sioux Indians.
Sioux Ghost Dance.
Sandow in Feats of Strength.
Texan Cowboy Throwing Lassos (in the open).
Alcide Capitaine.
Mexican Knife Thrower.
Madame Armand Ary.
Fencing Bout — Experts.
John Wilson, the Tramp.
Boxing Cats.
Sheik Hadji Tahar — Summersaults, etc.
Walten and Slavin (long and short) comedians.
Japanese Dancers.
Chinese Opium Den Police Raid — a comic.
Milk White Flag (a play).
These subjects were taken on our full width film, having double perforations, four to a phase as used to this day, and standardized by me for Edison at the end of 1889.
De fait, la situation de William K. L. Dickson au cours de ce début d'année est assez trouble. Le directeur général, William E. Gilmore, le soupçonne de faire cavalier seul. Pour sa part, Dickson finit par quitter l'entreprise et la presse annonce son départ :
W.K.L. Dickson has resigned his position of electrical engineer at the laboratory of Thomas A. Edison in order to go into business for himself, his company being the Electric Light and Power Col, lately incorporated in the State of New Jersey with Llewellyn H. Johnson as President; W.K.L. Dickson as Electrical engineer, H.C. Douglas as Secretary. Mr. Dickson has made many friends in Orange and all join in good wishes for his success in his new field.
Orange Chronicle, Orange, 27 avril 1895, p. 7.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cam%C3%A9ra_Kin%C3%A9tographe
Col. and Mrs. Alex. W. Archer, of Richmond, spent Sunday in this city, visiting the sister of the former, Mrs. W. K. L. Dickson, of Orange county, who is a guest in the family of ex-Senator J. M. Pleasants.Public Ledger, Norkolk, mardi 21 mai 1895, p. 3.
Les années Biograph (1895-)
Considérant qu'il a rempli son contrat avec Thomas A. Edison, William K. L. Dickson va se lancer, avec trois de ses proches, H. N. Marvin, E. B. Koopman et Herman Casler, dans un projet cinématographique commercial:
In conclusion, when I left Mr. Edison's laboratory in 1895, having accomplished the problems assigned to me, I joined my friends Messrs. H. N. Marvin, E. B. Koopman, and Herman Casler* to carry out a new method of reproducing motion by means of a pack of cards, which I had devised shortly after I had left Mr. Edison. This device we called the "Mutoscope." The cards were viewed both as a peep show and as booklets given out by manufacturers for publicity purposes. A syndicate was immediately formed, and our master mechanician, Mr. Herman Casler, worked out his famous "punch as you go" taking camera. ** . When it was ready, I managed to secure some very stirring pictures.
Le résultat est la création de l'American Mutoscope Company qui se charge d'exploiter et de commercialiser l'invention d'Herman Casler, le "Mutoscope". Ce dernier va également mettre au point une caméra permettant de saisir les vues animées, le "Biograph". Les premiers essais de tournage semblent dater du mois de juin 1895 avec la bande non cataloguée Herman Casler and Harry Marvin sparring for the Biograph dont Dickson pourrait être l'opérateur. C'est probablement le cas également des quatre films du combat de boxe à Canastota, même si la presse parle d'un certain photographe "H. J. Dobson", possible pseudonyme derrière lequel pourrait se dissimuler notre cinématographiste.
Les premiers tournages sont effectués à New York.
À la mi-juillet 1896, William K. L. Dickson et Elias B. Koopman, en provenance de New York, se rendent à Atlantic City et descendent à l'hôtel Koopman, près de la plage, dont le directeur est J. B. Koopman :
KOOPMAN:
[...]
New York-W. K. Dickson, F. Loving, E. B. Koopman.
Press of Atlantic City, Atlantic City, vendredi 17 juillet 1896, p. 3.
"Along the sea front, looking East"
Atlantic City and County. New Jersey, Philadelphia, Alfred M. Slocum Co., 1899, p. 64.
Si l'on ignore les raisons de ce séjour à Atlantic City, il se trouve que le lendemain de leur arrivée, le quotidien local, l'Atlantic City Daily Union, publie un article où l'on apprend qu'un kinetoscope [sic] a filmé les essais d'un nouveau dispositif - une buse à bille - destiné aux pompiers de la ville :
The Ball Nozzle Tested.
Agent Stewart of the American Ball Nozzle company gave an exhibition of the possibilities of the patent ball nozzle this morning at North Carolina avenue and beach with the view of having it introduced into the fire department in this city. A States engine was used to force the water and was run at its highest speed. One of the important points Mr. Stewart wished to demonstrate was that the nozzle could be held and easily managed by a small boy while a stream of water was being forced 100 feet in the air. The test was witnessed by Chief Whippey, ex-Chief Lackey, Lewis Evans and other prominent members of the fire department. The exhibition was photographed for a kinetoscope by the Edison company and will be reproduced on the Boardwalk in a few days.
Atlantic City Daily Union, Atlantic City, samedi (après-midi) 18 juillet 1896, p. 1.
Il est probable que les opérateurs aient été, en réalité, les deux directeurs de l'American Mutoscope Company. Peut-on penser, pour autant, qu'ils aient également pris les vues d'Atlantic City qui figurent entre les numéros 17 et 34 du catalogue ? L'été est, en tout cas, propice à la baignade, thème récurrent du corpus et que l'on évoque dans un article publié quelques mois plus tard :
New pictures for this week will be among the best yet shown, and have been reserved for the last to revive the interest in case of a falling off, which, by the way, has not materialized to any appreciable extent. Perhaps the best of those to be shown this week is the bathing scene at Atlantic City. In this view several women bathers are seen, two of them engaged in a friendly scuffling match in which one of them is thrown beneath the surface of the water, disappearing from view and afterwards reappearing in a half strangled condition. The white caps are constantly breaking on the shore in a remarkably realistic manner, and every detail of a summer day view at this popular resort is shown. A fine view at the corner of One Hundred and Twenty-third street, and the Boulevard. New York city, is shown, and also a winter scene in New England, entitled "Merry Sleigh Bells."
Detroit Free Press, Detroit, dimanche 10 janvier 1897, p. 5.
En [décembre], Dickson est à Rome afin de filmer le pape, pour le compte de la Biograph.
Tour de force M. Laurie Dikson, un Anglais, vient d'accomplir un tour de force "cinématograhique". Ces jours-:i se courait à Liverpool le grand Steeple-Chase national, un des principaux événements sportifs de la saison. A trois heures et demie avait lieu la course dont M. Laurie Dickson s'était juré de cinématographier la dernière et plus intéressante phase, à savoir l'arrivée au poteau, et de la représenter le soir même au Palace-Theater de Londres ; il avait en tout cinq heures devant lui. Grâce au capitaine Nott-Bower, chef de la police à Liverpool, qui lui avait donné toutes les autorisations nécessaires et lui avait facilité son installation au bon endroit, M. Dickson a pu prendre un millier de vues instantanées, puis accompagné de son aide, filer en voiture jusqu'à la gare, où un train spécial l'attendait, prêt à partir. En route, dans son compartiment-laboratoire, éclairé avec des lampes électriques à verre rouge, il a développé, tiré et séché ses pellicules.
Trois heures après il descendait du train, à Euston Station, et à 8 heures et demie exactement, le cinématographe commençait à fonctionner au Palace Theater, en présence d'une salle archicomble et au milieu de bravos frénétiques. Jamais on n'avait vu un pareil record !La Gazette de Lorraine, Metz, samedi 29 avril 1899, p. 3.
Mrs. W. K. L. Dickson.
A cable message was received in the city yesterday announcing the death of Mrs. William K. L. Dickson, in Londeon, England. Mrs Dickson was Miss Lucie Agnes Archer, daughter of the late A. L. Archer of Petersburg, and the sister of Colonel Alex. W. Archer, of this city. the news of her death will come as a shock to her many friends throughout the State, where she was widely known and beloved.Times Dispatch, mercredi 12 février 1908, p. 2.
Applications for Patents
JULY 12th to 17th
[...]
16,725.-William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, 33, Cannon Street, London. Improved appliance for developing multi-picture photographic films.The Bioscope, jeudi 29 juillet 1909, p. 37.
1910: passager (Liverpool-New York)
APPLICATIONS FOR PATENTS
(May 9th to 14th.)
11,935.-William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, 33, Cannon Street, London. Improvements relating to apparatus for developing lenghts of photographic films. The Bioscope, jeudi 26 mai 1910, p. 41.
1911: passager (Liverpool-New York)
1914: passager (Liverpool-New York)
TIIE BRITISH MUTOSCOPE AND BIOGRAPH PAPAL VIEWS.
We regret that in our last issue we should have published an infringement of one of these copyright views, which had been supplied to "us by Le Monde Illustré, of Paris. Our contemporary appears to have been made the victim of some mistake or hoax in attributing the view of the Pope in His Garden to a M. de Federicis, the fact being that this most interesting photograph was taken by Mr. W. K. L. Dickson, the technician of the British Mutoscope and Biograph Company, to whom the sole copyright belongs and to whom the acknowledgment should have been given.The Sketch, London, Wednesday, 5 April 1899, p. 3.
Et après...
Sources
DICKSON W.K.L. Mrs., "A Reminiscence of Anton Rubinstein", Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, vol. XXXIX, nº 3, mars 1895, p. 319-320.
A Pope and a Camera Man", The Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly, 22 janvier 1914, p. 94-95.
DICKSON W.K.L. et Antonia DICKSON, The Life and Inventions of Thomas A. Edison, T. Y. Crowell & Co., 1894.
DICKSON Antonia et W.K.L., "Edison's Invention of the Kineto-Phonograph", The Century Magazine, vol. XLVIII, nº 2, juin 1894, p. 206-214.
DICKSON W.K.L. et Antonia DICKSON, History of the Kinetograph Kinetoscope and Kineto-phonograph, New York, Albert Bunn (imprimatur), 1895, 56 p.
DICKSON W. K. L., The Biograph in Battle, Londres, T. Fisher Unwin, 1901, 296 p.
DICKSON W.K.L., "A Brief History of the Kinetograph, the Kinetoscope and the Kineto-Phonograph", Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, vol. XXI, nº 6, décembre 1933, p. 435-455.
HENDRICKS Gordon, Beginnings of the Biograph, New York, The Beginnings of the American Film, 1964, 78 p.
MUSSER Charles, Edison Motion Pictures, 1890-1900. An Annotated Filmography, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997, 720 p.
OP DEN KAMP Claudy. The Shadow Line. 19 avril 2023.
SMITH Alvy Ray, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson. A Genealogical Investigation of a Cinema Pioneer, 2014-1015, 131 p.
SPEHR Paul, The Man Who Made Movies: W.K.L. Dickson, John Libbey Publishing Ltd., . 2008, 706 p.
"The Kinetograph", The Sun, New York, jeudi 18 mai 1891, p. 1-2.
"The Kinetograph", The Phonogram, vol. II, nº 10, octobre 1892, p. 217-221.
TYRRELL Henry, "Edison", Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, vol. XXXIX, nº 3, mars 1895, p. 258-271.
Remerciements
Jean-Paul Vidal.
