Paris
6 Mars
My Dear Henry
I leave this tomorrow with Valletort & suite <1> - pray do me the kindness to signify in Sackville Street <2> that they may expect me on the 11th or 12th - because having had the influenza I shall travel leisurely & for change of air. Amandier <3> is very anxioius I should see you before you see M. de Bassano <4> &c &c all which I believe she wrote to you yesterday. She is in a state of agitation & most anxious you should sign nothing in London beacuse she thinks English Lawyers are not aquainted with French Law & subterfuges. The desire they expressed that you should sign in London makes her think you ought not.
If you are at Laycock pray desire Nicole to write to London to signify to Sara as above. <5> Poor Amandier a eu la fievre toute la Nuit & says Ap'elle Momma de Calotype! because she is so afraid of your being taken in, il y a si peu de bonne foi en France des quid d'agit l'Argent- <6>
God Bless you Dearest
I don't like the thought of my journey at all
[Address panel:]
Henry Fox Talbot Esq
31 Sackville Street
London
to be forwarded
Notes:
1. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe,Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797-1861), WHFT's brother-in-law.
2. 31 Sackville Street, London residence of the Feildings.
3. Amélina Petit de Billier, sometimes 'Mamie' or 'Amandier' (1798-1876); governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
She took an active role in trying to get WHFT's calotype patented and marketed in France.4. Hugues Antoine Joseph Eugène Maret, the Marquis de Bassano, (1806-1889), a Parisian photographic entrepreneur who was in negotiations with WHFT over a possible partnership to market the calotype in France.
5. Nicolaas Henneman (1813-1898), Dutch, active in England; WHFT's valet, then assistant and later a photographer on his own. Sara was a Feilding servant.
6. This is a difficult mixture of English and French - roughly: Poor Amandier had a fever all night and says to call her the Mama of the Calotype! because she is so afraid of you being taken in, there is so little good faith in France when it comes to money .