Sir J. Herschel Bart
June 12. 1841
31 Sackville St London <1>
Dear Sir,
I send the Literary Gazette <2> of today, containing a short account of my paper on Calotype, read last Thursday. <3>
I enclose a sheet of the paper covered with iodide of silver. This is to be washed with a solution A + B.
[illegible deletion] A. is a solution of 100 grains crystd Nitrate Silver in 2 ounces distd water, to which is added ⅓ ounce of strong acetic acid but not so strong as aromatic vinegar –
B. is a saturated solution of gallic acid (which I enclose a sample of) in cold distilled water.
A and B are to be mixed in small quantities at a time, and in equal volumes.
By moistening the paper with the liquid, & exposing it for a second to daylight; it will be easily seen that the impression continues to come out spontaneously after the cessation of the exciting cause.
Yours very truly
H. F. Talbot
Notes:
1. 31 Sackville Street, London residence of the Feildings, often used as a London base by WHFT.
2. The Literary Gazette and Journal of belles lettres, science and art.
3. WHFT, ‘Fine Arts. Calotype (Photogenic) Drawing,’, The Literary Gazette and Journal of belles lettres, science and art, no. 1273, 12 June 1841, p. 379. This was a synopsis of the paper that WHFT had read before the Royal Society on 10 June, ‘An account of some recent improvements in Photography’. Only an abstract was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, v. 4 no. 48, 1841, pp. 312–315. WHFT reprinted the full text of his article in leaflets, first as The Process of Calotype Photogenic Drawing in 1841, and again in 1845 under the title The Process of Talbotype (formerly called Calotype) Photogenic Drawing.
4. One of Herschel’s experimental photographs made with the juice of a flower.