Saturday 4th. May
My Dear Henry
Do have your Camera Obscura <1> repaired, those from Nature <2> are thought more wonderful than any.
I have been ill & am not yet allowed to go out, which is the reason I have not been able to buy the Prints I promised you. I kept my bed one whole day & am still weak, but good Dr. Ferguson <3> m’ai tire’ d’affaire pour cette fois. <4> I hope you received various muslins & ribands to be photogenized <5> – Tell me where to get the Memoir <6> upon Photography, as I have given away all the copies you gave me. Sir John Herschell <7> did send for his parcel, & so Dr. Ure. <8>
Matilda’s <9> was the only one I could take the liberty of opening, which I did to give the Russian Doctor who was in so great a hurry to send them to St. Petersburg <10> by the Sirius <11> Steamer. Shelburne’s <12> is an unfortunate business as he will not be en bonne odeur <13> at home again for a long time. I have endeavored to pursuade him that the next time he does a foolish thing he should do it in a sensible manner. Plus un dimanche est hasardé’ plus on doit soigner les details. <14> He talks of going soon abroad to avoid cold looks at home. His Father <15> is very justly incensed that such wretches should ever have been admitted under his roof. If he had consulted Kit <16> who has such a good head for business instead of the youngest of all his friends! neither Lord L. nor Lord I. <17> had the remotest idea of the transactions till they saw it in the newspapers.
My sister <18> has been quite unhappy about it but the world in general take part with the son & abuse the Father which is most unjust
yr
E F
Henry Fox Talbot Esq
Laycock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 03943.
2. Partially because of technical difficulties, WHFT at first did not recognise that pictures made in a camera, rather than photograms (contact prints of objects) were the real strength of his process. Lady Elisabeth was instrumental in getting him to take more camera views. [See Doc. No: 03873].
3. Robert Ferguson (1799–1865), physician. [See Doc. No: 07274].
4. Got me out of trouble this time.
5. ‘Photogenic drawing’ was rapidly discarded in favour of ‘photography’, part of the reason being the difficulty of the verb from this noun being photogenize.
6. WHFT, 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. Read before the Royal Society, January 31, 1839 (London: R & J E Taylor, 1839). [See Doc. No: 03800].
7. Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792–1871), astronomer & scientist.
8. Andrew Ure (1778–1857), chemist and scientific writer.
9. Matilda Feilding (1775-1849), WHFT's 'aunt' - sister of Charles Feilding, his stepfather.
10. See Doc. No: 03873.
11. One of the first pioneer Atlantic steamers.
12. Henry Fitzmaurice, Lord Shelburne, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne (1816–1866), MP.
13. In good odour or repute.
14. The more adventurous a Sunday is, the more you have to pay attention to detail.
15. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle.
16. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.
17. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).
18. Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), wife of Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne; Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838; WHFT's aunt.