St Leonards
April 22d 1842
Dear Sir,
I am much delighted with the specimens of Portraits <1> you have been so kind as to send me. They surpass greatly those made by Dr Adamson <2> & Mr Furlong; <3> but what is curious is the Draperies seem better brought out in theirs than in yours; arising perhaps from the sitters putting on lighter dresses for the purpose.
I earnestly beg that you will send me one of yourself, & that you will mention to me the names of the Gentlemen whose portraits you sent.
If you can see M. Merz <4>at Munich will you say to him that I am much pleased with his large Prism, <5> and have done some good with it.
Wishing you a favourable Journey I am
Dear Sir Ever Most Truly yrs
D Brewster
H.F. Talbot Esqr
Notes:
1. Five early photographic portraits by WHFT can be found in Brewster’s album. For these images see: ‘A Man Standing in a Doorway’, taken 1840 or 1841, reproduced in Graham Smith, Disciples of Light: Photographs in the Brewster Album (Malibu: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1990), p. 140; ‘Lady Elisabeth Feilding’, taken August 1841, reproduced in Disciples of Light, p. 32; ‘Lady Elisabeth Feilding as Paolina Borghese’, Schaaf 3693, taken 20 April 1842, reproduced in Disciples of Light, p. 136; ‘Workman at Lacock’, taken 9 April 1842, reproduced in Disciples of Light, p. 137; and ‘Nicolaas Henneman’, taken 1842 or 1843, reproduced in Disciples of Light, p. 37.
2. Dr John Adamson (1809–1870), physician and pioneer of photography. See A. D. Morrison-Low, ‘Dr John Adamson and Robert Adamson: An Early Partnership in Scottish Photography’, The Photographic Collector, v. 2, 1983, pp. 198–214.
3. William Holland Furlonge, sometimes William Holland Furlong (1826-1881), Irish born chemist, photographer and Assyriologist.
4. Georg Merz (d. 1867).
5. See Doc. No: 04339, Doc. No: 04470.