The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre

In this luminous novel, Dominic Smith reinvents the life of one of photography's founding fathers. In 1839, Louis Daguerre's invention took the world by storm. A decade later, he is sinking deep into delusions brought on by exposure to mercury, the very agent that allowed his daguerreotype process. Believing the world will end within one year, he creates his "Doomsday List"--ten items he must photograph before the final day. It includes a woman he has always loved but has not seen in half a century.