Category:Robert H. Vance

English: Robert Vance was the premier daguerreotypist of California and the mining communities near San Francisco, where gold was first discovered in 1848. After the death of his father who left him $6,000 dollars, Vance learned how to make daguerreotypes in Boston, traveled to South America and Chile. He relocated to California in 1850. In 1851 he exhibited in New York City more than three hundred daguerreotype views of the nation's newest state which were auctioned off in 1853. Unfortunately these photographs, acquired first by Jeremiah Gurney and later by John Fitzgibbon, have been lost since the early years of this century. By the end of the 1850s, Vance had galleries all over northern California; notable photographers involved include Carleton Watkins who managed one of Vance's galleries. He was on site for the 1862 Sacramento Flood - many of the engravings of that event are credited "Photo Vance". From 1859, there were other Vance galleries were in Nevada and Hong Kong. In 1865 Vance divested from California and moved to New York, where he died in 1876. His brother, William Vance (1824-1891) was also an active California photographer from 1854-1861 and 1872 to 1885.