London
Apl 2. 1842
Sir
Agreeably to the suggestion contained in your favor of the 30th Ultimo I propose sending down one of my most Competent assistants (Mr Goddard) <1> as soon as I may be favord [sic] with a line from you naming the time most suitable to yourself.
Allow me to suggest whether provision may not be made for my Licensing County Establishments with an Exclusive Licence for such time as the per Centage may amount to – sum to be computed according to population and their circumstances
I am Sir Your mo obt srt
Richd Beard
[address panel:]
H F Talbot Esq
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts
Notes:
1. John Frederick Goddard (1797–1866), lecturer & photographer. Goddard was also a chemist, and Beard had hired him in the hope that he could reduce exposure times of the daguerreotype process for which Beard held patent in England, Wales and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Goddard visited WHFT at Lacock Abbey on 8 April, taking photographs with him and Nicolaas Henneman. For examples of these, see Larry J. Schaaf, Sun Pictures Catalogue Nine: William Henry Fox Talbot: Friends and Relations (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc., 1999), pp. 22-29.