Albumen Paper

albumen paper, albumen also spelled Albumin, light-sensitive paper prepared by coating with albumen, or egg white, and a salt (e.g., ammonium chloride) and sensitized by an aftertreatment with a solution of silver nitrate. The process was introduced by the French photographer Louis-Désiré Blanquart-Évrard in about 1850 and was widely used for about 60 years thereafter. Early employers of the process applied by hand the albumen and the silver solution, but by 1869, paper thus treated could be stored and marketed in bulk.

Albumen was also used during this period as a binder for the light-sensitive crystals on glass-plate negatives. Albumen prints are prized by modern collectors for their subtly graded tones and fine-grained resolution.