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Document number: 7360
Date: 03 Feb 1857
Recipient: BOLTON John Henry
Author: TALBOT William Henry Fox
Collection: British Library, London, Manuscripts - Fox Talbot Collection
Collection number historic: LA57-3
Last updated: 13th July 2010

[draft:]

B.
3 Feb/57

It was a new invn or discy

That whn G. is mixed wh a phc liqd & dried on a surface: ye actn of light makes ye G. insol. in Wr

I wishd / place that invn undr ye protn of ye Pt laws – If any 1 says yt I hd no right to patt that invn I ask upn wht grds [illegible deletion] is yt objn made?

[expanded version:]

Bolton
3 February 1857

It was a new invention or discovery

That when Gelatine is mixed with a photographic liquid <1> & dried on a surface: the action of light makes the Gelatine insoluble in Water

I wished to place that invention under the protection of the Patent laws – If any one says that I had no right to patent that invention <2> I ask upon what grounds [illegible deletion] is that objection made?


Notes:

1. Potassium bichromate, sensitive to light when mixed with an organic substance – in this case, gelatine.

2. Talbot’s patent Improvements in the Art of Engraving, Patent No. 565 of 29 October 1852. For a description of the process, see H. J. P. Arnold, William Henry Fox Talbot: Pioneer of Photography and Man of Science (London: Hutchinson Benham, 1977), pp. 273–74. In 1857 Talbot sought an injunction against the Patent Photo-Galvanographic Company for infringement of his process.

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