[unsigned] <1>
Mr Talbot
7 May 1844
I sent this morng to Mr Palmers <2> but he was not in but my Clk purchased the Book herewith sent & the Iodized paper & yr infn is therefore correct – The sale of the paper is I apprehend an infringt of yr patent & that it will be proper to give notice to the Parties which I will attend to when I receive yr instrons on the subject.
Notes:
1. This is unsigned but in the hand of WC King, to whom WHFT responded in Doc. No: 04995.
2. Edward Palmer, Chemical and Philosophical Instrument Maker, of 103 Newgate St, London, began selling photogenic paper, fixing liquids and portable field cameras in 1839; see, for example, his advertisement in The Athenæum, no. 603, 18 May 1839, p. 361. These supplies were based on WHFT’s freely-published formulas, although he was not credited by Palmer. By the 1843 Post Office Directory, Palmer had expanded his specialties to include “optician, mathematician, chemical & philosophical instrument maker, & electrotypist”. The iodized paper was part of WHFT’s patented calotype process.