Lacock
Aug. 17
Messrs
I have received your letter of yesterday –
I am afraid the plate of “the Tuileries” will disappoint your subscribers and the Public –
After so long an interval something very good will certainly be expected, showing a marked and decided advance in the Art – is it not then a great pity to publish impressions from a plate so much worn as this is?
Being now returned home – and having some leisure I could easily in a few days make 6 or 8 new etchings of this subject, some of which would undoubtedly prove equal or superior to what this one was, when it was first made.
Let me however mention another idea which has occurred to me – the impressions which have been taken from this plate of the Tuileries, I would propose to hold in reserve for publication at a future time, and in the meanwhile, for the present occasion I would publish the photoglyphic copy of a line engraving – This would be a novelty, and I find that the copies I can make of line engravings are very perfect, rendering every line of the original – I therefore think I could produce you a photoglyph of this kind showing plainly the great utility of the invention. If you think well of this idea,
you can select 2 or 3 line engravings & send them to me – Of course – they must be subjects of which you hold the Copyright, or at least have permission to copy –
The size should be that of the Tuileries, or rather larger.
The engraving must be printed on moderately thin paper of a pretty good texture, for my process is to wax it and make it semi transparent, but if there are any great impurities in the paper this cannot be done. The style of engraving should be bold and the principal lines black. Such a one could hardly fail to give a good photoglyph – It would not take me more than 2 or 3 days to make several etchings and I think they would give much more satisfaction that “the Tuileries” –
Of course I have plenty of line engravings here, but I cannot use them for this purpose, for fear of infringing some Copyright.
Yours truly
H. F. Talbot
1623. <1>
H. Fox Talbot
17/8/59
Notes:
1. Written in another hand.