Le Commandant Anatole Charlemagne

The precision of
the daguerreotype—the first publicized form of photography—enthralled the world
at its introduction in 1839. At the height of the craze in the mid-19th
century, millions of daguerreotypes were produced, most of them portraits.

This wasp-waisted officer, standing proudly in his ensign’s
uniform, is Anatole Charlemagne (1824–1868). He entered the French Navy at the
age of fifteen, and by twenty-two was given the rank of Ship’s Ensign.
Charlemagne rose through the ranks of the Navy, only to be lost at sea just two
weeks shy of his 44th birthday.