D^r Hincks

Millburn Tower Edinburgh^<1>
Jan^y 1^st 1862

D^r Sir

I should be happy to lend you Ménant’s two pamphlets if you wish to see them. You would not find in them much that is new to you, but he evidently wishes to make fair statements to the best of his ability. I wonder that he and Oppert should insist upon it, that de Sauley’s writings contributed materially to the advance of Assyrian discovery. I am not conscious of any obligation in that quarter. The term Hamitic was used by me conventionally; certainly not as implying any resemblance with the language of Egypt.

The term I myself selected was Proto Chaldæan, but I found that Hamitic and Accadian had been employed by others, and I chose Hamitic as the shortest. If it is a bad name I am ready to adopt any other. I believe Rawlinson coined it.

I am much pleased with your version of the inscriptⁿ of Nabonidus col 2. l.52 &c I had observed that there was some error or confusion in my version, but it had not occurred to me that Nabonidus meant to say, that his own first efforts were unsuccessful. This view of the subject clears up the meaning very much. Also the roots and are very good Hebrew.

The root אצב quæsivit, makes excellent sense.

You will find in my published writings that I agree with you in deriving innamir from the root mar to see. (see Journal of R. As^c Soc^y vol 18 p. 90

I procured the 2 first numbers of the Museum, a periodical which I had not seen previously, and I am glad to find that as to the general scope and leading facts of the Hezekiah inscription there is not much difference between us. As Oppert agrees with you in the statement that Hezekiah sent his Charioteer to bear his submission (Oppert has, il envoya son cocher) I conclude that you transcribe by rak, and as this value is new to me I should like to know on what evidence it is founded, other than this passage.

I remain D^r Sir Yours very truly
H. F. Talbot

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Notes:

1. Millburn Tower, Gogar, just west of Edinburgh; the Talbot family made it their northern home from June 1861 to November 1863. It is particularly important because WHFT conducted many of his photoglyphic engraving experiments there. The house had a rich history. Built for Sir Robert Liston (1742-1836), an 1805 design by Benjamin Latrobe for a round building was contemplated but in 1806 a small house was built to the design of William Atkinson (1773-1839), best known for Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford. The distinctive Gothic exterior was raised in 1815 and an additional extension built in 1821. Liston had been ambassador to the United States and maintained a warm Anglo-American relationship in the years 1796-1800. His wife, the botanist Henrietta Liston, née Marchant (1751-1828) designed a lavish American garden, sadly largely gone by the time the Talbots rented the house .