Adelaide Gallery <1>
28. août 1844.
Monsieur
Votre lettre <2> du 26. ct. m’a fait beaucoup de plaisir. Je vois que vous n’avez été pour rien dans les désagremens que m’a occasionné la visite de Mr Spring Rice, <3> & je suis heureux que vous ayez quelque confiance dans les efforts que je dois faire pour faire réussir le Talbotype, <4> cela me donnera le courage & l’energie dont j’ai besoin.
Décidemment Murray <5> ne peut obtenir la moindre image par le nouveau procédé, <6> il a encore essayé aujourdhui, sans la moindre trace. Je vous envoie son mode d’opérer afin que vous me disiez s’il n’y a pas quelqu’erreur. Murray croit que c’est la faute du papier & je lui dis de vous envoyer en même temps un morceau de son papier, vous jugerez vous même ce qui en est.
Les specimens que vous m’avez envoyés & que je vous retourne ci inclus avec mes remerciments sont des impressions bien faibles. Le meilleur est le grand portrait de Mr Henneman <7> mais nous faisons généralement au moins aussi bien, seulement son papier n’a pas de défauts & parait meilleur que le nôtre. Pourriez-vous nous mettre sur la voie pour en obtenir de semblable. Je remarque que les vôtres n’ont presque pas de points blancs & que toute la surface du papier parait très homogène. cela dépend-il de la manière d’appliquer les solutions? Peut être bien.
J’ai reçu de Mr Fizeau <8> 2. épreuves de sa gravure <9> avec une lettre à votre adresse que je vous adresse ci inclus je vous envoie le petit specimen qui peut se mettre sans risque dans ce paquet & le plus grand je vous le ferai parvenir par une autre occasion.
Agréez, Monsieur, l’assurance de ma considération distinguée,
A Claudet
L’artiste qui m’a amené Mr Pritchard <10> m’a recommandé de ne pas me déssaisir de son portrait jusqu’après la publication qu’il doit en faire lui même. En conséquence je ne puis en faire usage.
Translation:
Adelaide Gallery
28 August 1844
Sir
Your letter of the 26th of the present month gave me great pleasure. I see that you were not at all involved in the inconveniences Mr Spring Rice’s visit caused me, & I am happy that you have some trust in the efforts I must make in order to make the Talbotype succeed, which will give me the courage & the energy I need.
Murray really cannot obtain the slightest image with the new procedure, he tried again today, without any trace. I am sending you a description of how he operates in order that you might tell me whether there is some error. Murray thinks the paper is to blame & I tell him to send a piece of his paper at the same time, you will judge for yourself on the matter.
The specimens you sent me & I that I am returning enclosed with my thanks are very weak impressions. The best one is the large portrait of Mr Henneman but generally we do as good a job, only his paper does not have any faults & seems better than ours. Could you set us on the right track for obtaining a similar one. I note that yours have hardly any white points & that the whole surface of the paper seems very homogeneous. Does that depend on how the solutions are applied? Perhaps it does.
I have received from Mr Fizeau 2 proofs of his engraving with a letter addressed to you which I am enclosing here. I am sending you the little specimen which can be put in this parcel without any risk & I shall get the larger one to you on another occasion.
Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my distinguished consideration.
A Claudet
The artist who brought Mr Pritchard recommended that I should not release his portrait until he has published it himself. As a consequence, I cannot make use of it.
Notes:
1. Adelaide Gallery, Lowther Arcade, Strand, London: Gallery of Practical Science; site of Antoine Claudet’s photographic studio.
2. Letter not located.
3. Stephen Edmund Spring Rice (1814–1865), deputy chairman of the Board of Customs, and eldest son of Thomas Spring-Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle (1790–1866), statesman. [See Doc. No: 05039].
4. In common with many of WHFT's friends, Claudet tried to honour his name in the process, but the inventor modestly preferred the calotype.
5. Probably Robert Murray (1798–1857), Irish instrument maker, based in London at John Newman; from 1855 partner in Murray & Heath (Robert Murray & Vernon Heath), instrument makers & photographers, London.
6. WHFT had published and patented some improvements of his photographic processes in the winter and spring of 1844. See ‘Patent Granted for Improvements in Photography’, Chemical Gazette, v. 2 no. 30, 15 January 1844, pp. 55–56; see also ‘Improvements in Photography’, Chemist, v. 2 no. 15, March 1844, pp. 115–117. However, it is also possible that the process referred to is the calotype process.
7. Nicolaas Henneman (1813–1898), Dutch, active in England; WHFT’s valet, then assistant; photographer.
8. Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau (1819–1896), French physicist.
9. In 1841 Fizeau announced his invention of a galvanic process whereby a daguerreotype plate could be turned directly into a printing plate. In November 1843 Claudet took out the English patent for this process. These prints did not become widespread, but three of them can be found in Nicolas Marie Paymal, Excursions Daguerriennes (Paris: 1842).
10. George Pritchard (1796-1883), missionary and diplomat. He was British consul to Tahiti from 1837-1844; when this was taken over by the French, he became consul to Samoa from 1845-1856. The published portrait was perhaps the lithograph issued by George Baxter in 1845, showing the Bay of Tahiti in the background. [See also Doc. No: 05037].