Microphotographic slide reproducing a plate by Thomas Daniell's Oriental scenery (London : R. Bowyer, 1795-1807). In Oriental scenery, Daniell's aquatint is captioned "Raje Gaut, the principal road up to Rotas Ghur, Bahar." The slide was likely made by John Benjamin Dancer, inventor of microphotography, whose first specimens appeared in 1852 and 1853. Microphotographs greatly reduced the size of the original image -- the present reproduction measures about 1 x 1 mm -- and required use of a microscope for viewing. "Dancer mounted the microphotographs on slides for microscopical examination, and public interest in them as curiosities thereafter created an important market for his business. Their first significant application was during the siege of Paris, in 1870, when carrier pigeons were used to carry microphotographed messages" (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).