Two images of William Orr Scannel? The left image is the proposed Daguerreotype of Joseph Smith, popularly known as the “Scannel Daguerreotype” of 2008. The image generated a public stir when it first came to light. Could e-mailed photo be that of LDS Prophet Joseph Smith? | KSL.com The image was donated in 1969 to The Church of Christ (RLDS) by a descendant (Grace Katherine Scannel Congden, 1893-1979) of William Orr Scannel. The image presented on the left is cropped from the published version and not flipped. The image on the right is Dag #1370 in the Library of Congress Grice Collection of Daguerreotypes. The quarter-plate format is one of only three in that format in the fifty-one image collection (the vast majority being in the smaller sixth or ninth plate formats). The image here is cropped from the original seen below and not flipped horizontally. [Unidentified man, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front] – digital file from color film copy transparency after conservation | Library of Congress (loc.gov)Of course, the Scannel Daguerreotype on the left could be Joseph Smith. If so, the Grice version is of higher quality! The larger quarter-plate format of the right image might be considered more befitting a Prophet than a shoemaker. The visual tip-off for the quarter-plate format is the relative smallness of the “F Grice” debossed in the left lower corner.
Rod's Ramblings and Ruminations 