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Document number: 6639
Date: 10 Jun 1852
Dating: corrected from 9th
Recipient: EASTLAKE Charles Lock
Author: TALBOT William Henry Fox
Collection: Royal Photographic Society Coll, National Media Museum, Bradford
Collection number: T/2 1274B
Last updated: 21st April 2009

<draft>

Sir C. E.

June 9 10 / 52

Since I hd ye pl. of sg y I hd endvd t lrn as mch as pssbl of yewshs of ye artstc & scfc wld respg my phc invn being desirs of doing anythg in reason for ye ad progress & advge of ye phc art. It apprs to me fm wht I can lrn thre is 1 brnch of my invn wch ye higher class of artists have no wish to exercise & wch ∴ if I were to sacrifice it, wd only be a useless sacrifice. I mean the taking of phc ports for sale to ye public. This is a branch of ye art wch must naturlly be in comparvly few hands because it requires a house to be built or alterd on purpose, with an aptmt lightd by a skylt & possessing a complex arrangt of blinds carefully adjusted &c. Othrwise ye port cannot be taken indoors, and only in rare favorable circs out of doors – In Londn of course that the latter wd be out of ye questn

Nor wd ye over multiplicn & conseqt cheapness of these ports conduce to ye progress of high art I judge fm ye expl of Fce & Amera where a cheap but altogether worthless style of Dtype portraits has I am told become vy prevt.

With this exceptn however I am willing to make a present of the photographic art to ye public so far as it is at present now restricted by my patent rights supposing always that is it wished for – And I beg have to suggest ye follg course (subject to your mode of proceeding the most ready mode the follwg – namely that you should submit <illegible deletion> your approbn and that of Ld Rosse) to to viz. that you shd address to me a letter of ye following kind, in wch you will observe I have carefully avoided any thing like a direct request to abandon the patent, because it appears upon enquiry that no precedent can be found for making such a request being made – But that if you were to say in ye 1st place that you spk of ye sentnts of many persons eminent for their love of scce & art,

Then (after saying then say wht y. please respectg ye invn itsf.)

if you were to say and add that ye art is not making ye progress and that you feel undbt my wish must be to see ye art wch I have invented flourish as mch as possble. That however owing to vars circs it apprs not to be making ye same progress in England as in France that this is much to be regretted as that it is a purely English invention, and <illegible deletion> that ∴ it is desirable that this an improvt shd take place if possible in this state of things

Sir C. E. 9 10 June 52

2)

so that the great capabily of ye inventn shd be fairly developed &c &c & that an efforts shd be made to develop more fully the doubtless great capabilities of ye inventn &c &c with any other remarks that may suggest themselves. The only signatures I consider necessary to this letter wd be your own and Ld Rosse’s as being respecting the acknowledged heads of the artistic & scientfc world and to this I trust I <illegible deletion> hope there will be no objn on his lordship’s part or on your own In that case, on my <illegible deletion> Without those signatures I am not prepared to say that I cd take any such step

It is most important to me that it shd be manifest that I am activated by a motive sufficiently important and worthy motive in taking such an unusual step. (K)

(K) However if it is wished to add other signatres which however do not appear to me at all necessary, I wd only suggest that in that case they shd be rather numerous.

In case then that I am honoured by a letter of this description, I shall immediately reply to you that I present the patents henceforth to the public, one only only reserving to myself only the point wch I mentioned at ye commenct of this letter.

I have of course written to Ld R. on ye subject by todays post and enclosed a copy of this letter

<expanded version>

Sir Charles Eastlake

June 9 10 / 1852

Since I had the pleasure of seeing you I have endeavoured to learn as much as possible of the wishes of the artistic and scientific worlds respecting my photographic invention, being desirous of doing anything in reason for the advantage progress and advantage of the photographic art. It appears to me from what I can learn there is one branch of my invention which the higher class of artists have no wish to exercise and which therefore if I were to sacrifice it, would only be a useless sacrifice. I mean the taking of photographic portraits for sale to the public. This is a branch of the art which must naturally be in comparatively few hands because it requires a house to be built or altered on purpose, with an apartment lighted by a skylight and possessing a complex arrangement of blinds carefully adjusted &c. Otherwise the portraits cannot be taken indoors, and only in rare favorable circumstances out of doors – In London of course that the latter would be out of the question.

Nor would the over multiplication and consequent cheapness of these portraits conduce to the progress of high art I judge from the examples of France & America where a cheap but altogether worthless style of Daguerreotype portraits has I am told become very prevalent.

With this exception however I am willing to make a present of the photographic art to the public so far as it is at present now restricted by my patent rights supposing always that is it wished for – And I beg have to suggest the following course (subject to your mode of proceeding the most ready mode the following namely that you should submit <illegible deletion> your approbation and that of Lord Rosse) <1> to viz. that you should address to me a letter of the following kind, in which you will observe I have carefully avoided any thing like a direct request to abandon the patent, because it appears upon enquiry that no precedent can be found for making such a request being made – But that if you were to say in the first place that you speak of the sentiments of many persons eminent for their love of science and art, Then (after saying then say whatever you please respecting the invention itself.)

if you were to say and add that the art is not making the progress and that you feel undoubtedly my wish must be to see the art which I have invented flourish as much as possible. That however owing to various circumstances it appears not to be making the same progress in England as in France that this is much to be regretted as <illegible deletion> it is a purely English invention, and <illegible deletion> that therefore it is desirable that this an improvement should take place if possible in this state of things so that the great capability of the invention should be fairly developed &c &c & that an efforts should be made to develop more fully the doubtless great capabilities of the invention &c &c with any other remarks that may suggest themselves. The only signatures I consider necessary to this letter would be your own and Lord Rosse’s as being respecting the acknowledged heads of the artistic and scientific world and to this I trust I <illegible deletion> hope there will be no objection on his lordship’s part or on your own In that case, on my <illegible deletion> Without those signatures I am not prepared to say that I could take any such step

It is most important to me that it should be manifest that I am activated by a motive sufficiently important and worthy motive in taking such an unusual step. However if it is wished to add other signatures which however do not appear to me at all necessary, I would only suggest that in that case they should be rather numerous.

In case then that I am honoured by a letter of this description, I shall immediately reply to you that I present the patents henceforth to the public, one only only reserving to myself only the point which I mentioned at the commencement of this letter.

I have of course written to Lord Rosse on the subject by today’s post and enclosed a copy of this letter. <2>


Notes:

1. William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800–1867), astronomer & MP.

2. See Doc. No: 06640.

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