20 Mornington Road
N. W.
Oct 25 1858.
Dear Sir
Your letters of the 23rd & 24th are before me. It is of course rather unfortunate that the delay should have occurred but still it is all important that the specimens given should not create an unfavorable impression of the capabilities of the process an <1>d so any little delay will be more than counterbalanced if the result be superiour [sic]. I should very much like to see some of the specimens of your former process: <2> I have heard much about it but never have seen any of its results. If you could spare a plate I think it would be interesting to my readers to be able to compare the two processes. Was it applicable to landscapes? I believe I remember that there was great difficulty in that.
With respect to the license I fully see that such a thing is at present out of the question so I will not mention the subject further now. If however at any future time it so happens that such can be granted without of any of the difficulties which are at present in the way, I beg you will then honour my request with a thought.
Believe me very truly yours
William Crookes.
H. F. Talbot Esqre
Notes:
1. WHFT produced photoglyphic engraving prints to accompany George Lumley's articles on the subject, and included ‘Bridge over the Moldau, Prague’; ‘Palace of the Duc de Montpensier, Seville’; ‘The New Louvre, Paris’; ‘The Gate of the Cathedral of San Gregorio, Valladolid’; and ‘The Institute of France’. See ‘Description of Mr Fox Talbot’s New Process of Photoglyphic Engraving’, Photographic News, v. 1 no. 7, 22 October 1858, pp. 73–75; and v. 1 no. 10, 12 November 1858, pp. 114–115.
2. WHFT's 1852 Photographic Engraving process.