[Leica] Giphantie

[geordiepete211 at yahoo.co.uk (Peter Cheyne)]

My friend is doing a diploma in photography, and asked me a question  
about a novel calle Giphantie.  I had no idea about it, so found out  
on Answers.com:

La Roche made a prediction about photograhy.  He wrote the novel in  
about 1750.  Answers.com says:

"Before mentioning the stages that led to the development of  
photography, there is one amazing, quite uncanny prediction made by a  
man called de la Roche (1729- 1774) in a work called Giphantie. In  
this imaginary tale, it was possible to capture images from nature, on  
a canvas which had been coated with a sticky substance. This surface,  
so the tale goes, would not only provide a mirror image on the sticky  
canvas, but would remain on it. After it had been dried in the dark  
the image would remain permanent. The author would not have known how  
prophetic this tale would be, only a few decades after his death."

....
Amazing!

Peter Cheyne