[draft]

R Hunt

Nov 6 7 /51 (not sent)

w^th ref^ce / y^r obsⁿ yest^y respect^g a phot^c Club, I w^d mentⁿ that so long as gentⁿ few in n^o & were practising this fascin^g art for their amus^t I had no wish to interfere – I only regretted that so few of y^m either sent any court^s acknowl^t to myself or adhered to their promise of dealing with my Licensees Mess^rs Hennⁿ & Co for their phot^c materials.

But at pres^t under ye pret^t of amusem^t pretext of using this art for amus^t many persons use it for profess^l purposes most valuable to y^m for inst^ce the portrait painters – Nor w^d it indeed be easy to draw the line between

You will easily understand how difficult unpleasant it is for me to single out any person in partic^r & subject him to y^e annoyance of proceed^gs in Chanc^y But if any gentⁿ one w^d come forward and offer to try y^e right on behalf of the public, validity of ye pat^t I sh^d be v^y m^ch obliged to him.

On Tuesday Governor Kossuth made an appointm^t to sit for his portrait He [illegible deletion] The hour of noon was appointed fixed upon, but y^e illustr^s Magyar did not appear till nearly 3 clock This was putting y^e powers of photography to a severe test on a hazy November afternoon, nevertheless a very fair portrait was obtained, of which I underst^d that numer^s copies will be published next week, entering exclusively for y^e benefit of y^e Hgⁿ refugees. The price will be I shall have y^e pleasure of presenting you with a copy.

[expanded version]

Robert Hunt

November 6 7 /1851 (not sent)

with reference to your observation yesterday respecting a Photographic Club, ^<1> I would mention that so long as gentlemen few in number & were practising this fascinating art for their amusement I had no wish to interfere – I only regretted that so few of them either sent any courteous acknowledgement to myself or adhered to their promise of dealing with my Licensees Messeurs Henneman & Company ^<2> for their photographic materials.

But at present under the pretext of amusement pretext of using this art for amusement many persons use it for professional purposes most valuable to them for instance the portrait painters – Nor would it indeed be easy to draw the line between

You will easily understand how difficult unpleasant it is for me to single out any person in particular and subject him to the annoyance of proceedings in Chancery. But if any gentleman one would come forward and offer to try the right on behalf of the public, validity of the patent I should be very much obliged to him.

On Tuesday Governor Kossuth ^<3> made an appointm^t to sit for his portrait He [illegible deletion] The hour of noon was appointed fixed upon, but the illustrious Magyar did not appear till nearly 3 clock This was putting the powers of photography to a severe test on a hazy November afternoon, nevertheless a very fair portrait was obtained, of which I understand that numerous copies will be published next week, entering exclusively for the benefit of the Hungarian refugees. The price will be I shall have the pleasure of presenting you with a copy.

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Notes:

1. The Photographic Club had been formed in 1847. In 1851 it was proposed to put the Club on to the more formal footing of a photographical society ‘for the disinterested advancement of the Photographic Science’. This raised the question of WHFT’s patent, many members feeling that his process should be given to the world. [See H. J. P. Arnold, William Henry Fox Talbot: Pioneer of photography and man of science (London: Hutchinson Benham, 1977), p. 188.]. Talbot’s relations with the Society never became really happy. It subsequently became the Royal Photographic Society.

2. Nicolaas Henneman (1813–1898), Dutch, active in England; WHFT’s valet, then assistant; photographer.

3. Louis Kossuth (1802–1894), Hungarian statesman until his expatriation in 1851, when he was forced to go to America with a short stop in Britain.