In The Silver Canvas: Daguerreotype Masterpieces from The J. Paul Getty Museum, Bates Lowry and Isabel Barrett Lowry describe Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre's miraculous invention of the daguerreotype at the dawn of photography.

In nearly eighty examples - many never previously published - selected from the almost two thousand daguerreotypes included in the J. Paul Getty Museum's comprehensive photographs collection, the authors present the historical and artistic development of the daguerreian process, chronicling over two decades of European and American history and culture. Their narrative uncovers important new information about Daguerre's invention.