RICE & / SOUTH / WORTH (7) on a 1800s large cent. Brunk-Unlisted, Rulau-Unlisted. Host coin Poor. John L. Rice & Albert S. Southworth (1811-1894) were early Boston, MA daguerreotypists. Southworth was involved in a partnership of SOUTHWORTH & HAWES from 1843 to 1863, and it is unknown when he partnered with John Rice, but it is unlikely that it was after 1863, although an earlier date than 1843 has its issues. Southworth was a student of Samuel F.B. Morse, who, in addition to his other more famous pursuits, was an avid daguerreotypist. After wet-process plate printing came into vogue, Southworth also invented a device in 1855 that allowed up to eight exposures of the same sitter to be made in just two sequential exposures: by exposing half of a whole plate with a special four-lensed set of tubes, then moving the other half of the plate into place, the other half of the plate was then exposed. Undoubtedly a rare stamp, as is currently unique as far as we know.</em>From the Steve M. Tompkins Collection.
