[draft:]
Malone
28 Feb /57
Dr Sir/
I hve addressd this t y at the R. Instn, not recllg yr prest addss – I hope it will be forwardd t y.– I hv hrd tht y. rectly gave a lect. at the R Insn on Ph.G.Gphy. Mr Carpmael the emt Pt Agt has advis’d me that the pss of the PhGGc compy is a manifest infrgment of the patt grantd to me for “Impvts in Egrving” – Others of my frds concurg in the same opn I have commd an actn for dmages agst the Compy in the Court of Q.B.– wch will come on for trial in the course of a few wks.
May I ask y. if y. have suffict practical knowledge of the art, to give your evidence as to its utility, novelty &c &c? If so, I daresay you wd oblige me by your testimony – How do you electtype the Chrome gelat photogrph? directly on the gelatin surface, render’d conductive? or do you take an impressn first, & on what material? I am sorry I was not aware of your lecture, I shd have liked to hear it.
I have some thoughts of forming a Company (of limited liability) to carry out my invenn practically on a large scale.
[expanded version:]
Malone28 February 1857
Dear Sir
I have addressed this to you at the Royal Institution, not recollecting your present address.– I hope it will be forwarded to you. I have heard that you recently gave a lecture at the Royal Institution on Photogalvanography. Mr Carpmael the eminent Patent Agent has advised me that the process of the Photogalvanographic Company <1> is a manifest infringement of the patent granted to me for “Improvements in Engraving” – Others of my friends concurring in the same opinion I have commenced an action for damages against the company in the Court of Queens Bench – which will come on for trial in the course of a few weeks.
May I ask you if you have sufficient practical knowledge of the art, to give your evidence as to its utility, novelty &c &c? If so, I daresay you would oblige me by your testimony. How do you electrotype the Chrome gelatine photograph? Directly on the gelatin surface, rendered conductive? or do you take an impression first, & on what material? I am sorry I was not aware of your lecture, I should have liked to hear it.
I have some thoughts of forming a company (of limited liability) to carry out my invention practically on a large scale.
Notes:
1. The Patent Photo-Galvanographic Company (commonly, The Photogalvanographic Company) was based on the work of Paul Pretsch (1808–1873), Austrian photographer & inventor and former Manager of the Imperial Printing Establishment in Vienna. Located in Holloway Road, Islington, London, from 1856-1857, Pretsch took over as manager and Roger Fenton (1819–1869), photographer & lawyer, was a partner and their chief photographer. Starting in late 1856, they published a serial portfolio, Photographic Art Treasures, or Nature and Art Illustrated by Art and Nature, illustratated with photogalvanographs derived from several photographer's works. Photogalvanography was uncomfortably closely based on elements of WHFT’s patented 1852 Photographic Engraving but, unlike Talbot, the plates were heavily retouched by hand. Compounding the legal objections of Talbot, their former manager, Duncan Campbell Dallas, set up a competing company to produce the Dallastype. The company collapsed and near the end of 1860 Pretsch, out of money, allowed his patent to lapse. A public appeal was launched in 1861 to assist him but he returned to Vienna in 1863 in ill health, going back to the Imperial Printing Establishment, but finally succumbing to cholera.