Leamington
6th May 1858
Dear Sir
I am obliged by the information where to find your instantaneous process. Some 24 hours before your letter arrived I laid my hands on a number of the Philosophical Magazine & Journal of Science for 1852 in which is a detailed account by yourself and with it some MS further formulas of some of the Solutions, which I had extracted from some other source at the time and all these had been put away so carefully that I did not know I had them when I wrote to you. It had reference to the use of albumen that I spoke of when I mentioned the so called "new discoveries" and I am quite of opinion that it is an agent that has been too much lost sight of. I shall try some experiments soon I hope.
It will give me much pleasure to present you with some of my Photographs and to offer you full liberty to publish them. The size is 8 x 6 ½ but I could take some negative or two specially for your use when the fine weather sets in. These could be taken with my Small Camera & measure 6 ½ x 4 ¾ or thereabouts; and they will be of the character of the two I now enclose.
These are not choice prints for I have none but some refuse of last year by me at this time. Will they be of any use to you and is the Albumenized Paper / for Positives / any objection for the purpose you inted to apply them to?
I work now – when I do take a picture at all – by the Collodion Albumen Process, and the pictures now sent are some of its results.
Portraits I never take and cannot nor can I tolerate any but those which are corrected by subsequent painting. Views have not relief enough for my artistic eye and pure untouched Photographic Portraits are great distortions, as you are fully aware.
I remain, Dear Sir Yours faithfully
Saml Buckle
PS You shall have good Prints if they suit – pray excuse these waste copies
H Fox Talbot Esq.