By any measure, William Henry Fox Talbot, born more than two centuries ago, was one of the giants of photography, present at the creation, and a forebear of all who have come since. The extraordinary collects ion offered here of albums and photographs by Talbot comes originally from Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford (née Feilding), the photographer’s half-sister, and has remained with family for more than 170 years. Its scope – replete with loose photographs, personal albums, fascicles of The Pencil of Nature, a complete Sun Pictures in Scotland, and Horatia’s own early sketchbook – is unlike anything that has previously come to market. Comparable albums of photographs, assembled by Talbot, his mother, or his sisters, are rare, preserved in institutional collects ions including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford (formerly the collects ion of the Royal Photographic Society).
‘. . . how charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably, and remain fixed upon the paper! And why should it not be possible?’
Born out of frustration while sketching his surroundings on holiday, Talbot’s nascent experiments with photography began in the spring of 1834. By coating ordinary writing paper with a solution of salt and, subsequently, with silver nitrate, Talbot created a light-sensitive surface capable of capturing an image. These early experiments, however, were short-lived, could only be viewed for brief periods by candlelight, and would fade rapidly when viewed in normal daylight. Indeed, Talbot was not the first to experiment with this chemistry; his initial print-making attempts, to an extent, recreate earlier work done by Thomas Wedgwood and Humphry Davy. Talbot's great innovation to this process was to fine-tune the ratio of salt to silver nitrate: by using less salt and more silver nitrate, he made the paper more light-sensitive; and by applying a strong solution of salt after exposure, he discovered he could minimize the paper's sensitivity to light. On a number of the photographs offered here, pencil notations, likely by Talbot, denote which side of the paper was sensitized.
Talbot's innovation was a momentous one for the history of photography in that it laid the groundwork for creating permanent photographic images that could be viewed as finished works themselves or could serve as negatives from which unlimited positives could be printed. On 31 January 1839, Talbot read before the Royal Society a paper entitled ‘Some Account of the Art of Photogenic Drawing, or the Process by which Natural Objects May Be Made to Delineate Themselves without the Aid of the Artist’s Pencil.’ The new medium was born!
‘P.S. let the calotype be slightly moistened by dipping it in water, & then ironed, or pressed in a book for 24 hours.’
Although a decade older than his sister, Talbot enjoyed a close relationship with Horatia (1810-1851), the younger of two half-sisters born from his mother Elisabeth’s second marriage. As variously discussed by esteemed Talbot scholar Larry J. Schaaf, extensive correspondence among the siblings reveals a warm, easy relationship: from a young age, Horatia addressed Talbot as My dear Henry and, in turn, he always signed his letters Your affectionate Brother. The familial bond between Horatia and Talbot strengthened over the years through shared interests in travel, botany, and the arts. In the early 1840s, Horatia sat before her brother’s camera on several occasions, including his portraits with her harp and on the grounds of their family home Lacock Abbey. Their correspondence makes clear that he often sent her photographs. Horatia enjoyed a brief marriage to Thomas Gaisford before dying of complications after delivering Horace Charles (1851-1879), her only child. Upon her death, Horatia’s effects, including her albums and treasured photographs by her brother, were collects ed by Thomas and have subsequently passed down through the family.
This remarkable group of loose prints and albums not only charts the early history of photography but also offers a window into Talbot’s inner circle, life at Lacock Abbey, and his travels in the early part of the 1840s. Included among the family portraits are several of Talbot’s mother Elisabeth, whose lifelong impact on her son cannot be overstated. Also featured prominently are portraits of Horatia and his other half-sister Caroline. There are rare images of his daughters Ela Therese and Rosamond Constance, alone as well as in the company of family and friends such as writer Thomas Moore. Nicolaas Henneman – Talbot’s valet, assistant, and a photographer in his own right – makes several appearances, depicted in conversation, playing chess, and on the grounds of Lacock Abbey.
Talbot’s Inner Circle
Many photographs included in this group are well-known, including Nelson's Column under Construction; Lace; Articles of Glass; Articles of China; Articles of Silver; The Milliner’s Window; and various studies of the Bust of Patroclus. Other examples of these images exist in public collects ions and have been widely reproduced. The locations depicted, primarily in the photographs in the albums, chart Talbot’s travels in the 1840s. His home, Lacock Abbey, is well represented among the images as is Queen’s College, Balliol College, Radcliffe Library, and Brasenose College at Oxford. There are also city views of La Madeleine, Paris; Orléans; Bristol; Castle of Doune, and other areas in Scotland.
‘I have announced in Longman & Co’s Catalogue, or Monthly list, the forthcoming appearance of a work to be entitled the Pencil of Nature – We mean to guarantee to the Public that the plates will be executed by persons who know nothing whatever of drawing; & they may have all confidence in what they find there, since no artist is to be allowed to have any hand in it.’
Issued in 6 parts (known as fascicles) between 1844 and 1846, The Pencil of Nature was the first photographically illustrated text to be commercially sold and the culmination of more than a decade of experimentation. Talbot selected images that best demonstrated photography’s uses and advantages – still life, topography, architecture, and reproduction – but images such as The Haystack and The Open Door approach refined artistry. In correspondence between Talbot, his mother, his sisters, and his wife Constance, considerable discussion centered on the choice of images.
Offered in the present collects ion are parts 2 through 5, complete with their original wrappers and five-line Notice as issued. No. 2 is inscribed by its original owner ‘Horatia Feilding given me by Henry.’
While Talbot originally envisioned a series of 10 fascicles with a total of 50 plates, production ceased after just 24 photographs. Unlike Talbot’s Sun Pictures in Scotland which was sold by subscription, the fascicles of The Pencil of Nature were publicly available and thus it is impossible to determine an exact number of copies produced. According to Schaaf’s most recent census, extant individual fascicles reside largely in institutional collects ions. Only a handful of fascicles have appeared at auction since 1970. In 2018, Replica Shoes ’s sold a complete set of The Pencil of Nature that was originally from the collects ion of Talbot’s granddaughter, the only complete set to come to market in several decades.
‘The weather is unnaturally warm & all the flowers that you say are out will be nipped soon most probably. To day we dine with the Duke of Devonshire who was a subscriber to the Sun Pictures in Scotland.’
Similarly rare is Talbot’s Sun Pictures in Scotland, offered here complete with its original green cloth covers. It depicts Talbot’s travels through the region in October 1844, inspired by the life and writings of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). The 1830s and 1840s were a period of intense interest in the Scottish poet. Published in 1845, Sun Pictures in Scotland is widely recognized as the first photographically illustrated book completed for public sale. Issued between the fourth and fifth installments of Talbot’s Pencil of Nature, the edition size of Sun Pictures was quite small. Unlike The Pencil of Nature, it was not available through booksellers but rather through subscription. The list of subscribers comprised approximately 100 names, the first being Queen Victoria to whom Talbot’s sister Caroline was a Lady-in-Waiting. According to Schaaf, fewer than 25 copies of Sun Pictures in Scotland are believed extant, most now residing in institutional collects
ions. Only a handful of copies have appeared at auction since 1970.