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Marcus Aurelius Root
American, 1808 - 1888
Names
- Marcus Aurelius Root
BiographyBorn in Granville, Ohio in 1808, Marcus Aurelius Root moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early 1830s to study painting with Thomas Sully. Sully's lack of enthusiasm for his pupil's artistic skills led Root to open a penmanship school before he turned to the new medium of daguerreotyping as a way to earn his living.[1] Root seems to have whole heartedly committed to this new endeavor since in 1844 he reportedly had daguerreotype studios in Mobile, AL; New Orleans, LA; St. Louis, MO; and Philadelphia.[2] By 1845 he had resettled back in Philadelphia with a studio at 140 Chestnut Street. Root headed up one of the city's most esteemed studios attracting well-known patrons including failed presidential candidates Henry Clay and Winfield Scott as well as local Philadelphians. In 1849 in partnership with his brother Samuel, he opened a New York City gallery located on Broadway and remained part of that business for several years.[3]
In 1856 Marcus Root's life took an unexpected turn when he was severely injured in a train accident. Root began writing a book, The Camera and the Pencil, during the long years spent recuperating from his accident. Published in 1864, The Camera and the Pencil provided a history of photography along with technical information about the medium, but primarily focused on promoting the aesthetics of the practice. Root wanted photographers to be considered equal to painters and argued for the importance of a pleasing studio environment for the sitters and an artistic eye for the operators. Good photography, Root argued, was not merely the successful mechanical operation of a piece of equipment. Root also wrote extensively for photographic journals including Philadelphia Photographer, Humphrey's Journal of Photography and the Allied Arts and Sciences, and Photographic and Fine Arts Journal.[4]
Root never completely recovered his health after his accident and the Root Gallery in Philadelphia seems to have been taken over by another photographer. In the late 1850s George S. Cook's name appears on some daguerreotypes produced by the Root Gallery. Although Root may not have been actively working as a photographer in his later years, his importance as one of the profession's earliest practitioners was recognized when he was chosen to select photographic material for inclusion in the display The Progress of a New Art, from August, 1839 to May 1876, on view as part of the nation's Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia.[5] Marcus Root died in Philadelphia in 1888 from injuries received in a streetcar accident.
--"Marcus Aurelius Root," Luminous-Lint, https://luminous-lint.com/phoenix.php/photographers/single/Marcus_Aurelius__Root/, accessed 3/4/2026
In 1856 Marcus Root's life took an unexpected turn when he was severely injured in a train accident. Root began writing a book, The Camera and the Pencil, during the long years spent recuperating from his accident. Published in 1864, The Camera and the Pencil provided a history of photography along with technical information about the medium, but primarily focused on promoting the aesthetics of the practice. Root wanted photographers to be considered equal to painters and argued for the importance of a pleasing studio environment for the sitters and an artistic eye for the operators. Good photography, Root argued, was not merely the successful mechanical operation of a piece of equipment. Root also wrote extensively for photographic journals including Philadelphia Photographer, Humphrey's Journal of Photography and the Allied Arts and Sciences, and Photographic and Fine Arts Journal.[4]
Root never completely recovered his health after his accident and the Root Gallery in Philadelphia seems to have been taken over by another photographer. In the late 1850s George S. Cook's name appears on some daguerreotypes produced by the Root Gallery. Although Root may not have been actively working as a photographer in his later years, his importance as one of the profession's earliest practitioners was recognized when he was chosen to select photographic material for inclusion in the display The Progress of a New Art, from August, 1839 to May 1876, on view as part of the nation's Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia.[5] Marcus Root died in Philadelphia in 1888 from injuries received in a streetcar accident.
--"Marcus Aurelius Root," Luminous-Lint, https://luminous-lint.com/phoenix.php/photographers/single/Marcus_Aurelius__Root/, accessed 3/4/2026
Person TypeIndividual