[draft]
In ye letter which you did me ye favor to publish in your last number, I find perceive yt I have omitted a point of considble importce, wch I ¡Å now I now beg leave to mention. I mention d observd - When I said yt te Daguerreotype plates engraved by ye French process, had been found to wear out after furnishing only a small no of impressions, I forgot to add yt ye reason why yt similar inconvence was not to be apprehended yt my method will in all probabty be found to be entirely exempt from this inconvce owing to the great diffce of the materials I work with. But ye fact is yt there is no danger of this whatever, & on this point at least I can speak with confidence viz. yt if we obtain good Engravings we can multiply ye copies sufficiently For I do not make use of soft plates of silver or silver'd copper, as in ye Dtype or but I my etchings are executed on steel plates Conseqly there can be no doubt of their durability if - & of their yielding any no of impressns that may be wanted, wch favorable circstce allows. This the essential point is ¡Å secured; & it only remains to endeavour to improve as far as possble the perfection execution of the etchgs themselves
[Although the final letter has not been located, this version was published in the Athenæum, no. 1329, 16 April 1853, pp. 481-482.]
PHOTOGRAPHIC ENGRAVING.
In the letter which you did me the favour to publish in your last number, <1> I perceive that I have omitted a point of considerable importance; which I therefore now beg leave to mention. When I said, <2> that the daguerreotype plates engraved by the French process had been found to wear out after furnishing only a small number of impressions, I forgot to add, that my method will in all probability be found to be entirely exempt from this inconvenience, owing to the great difference of the materials I work with. For I do not make use of soft plates of silver or silvered copper, as in the daguerreotype, but my etching are executed on steel plates, - consequently, there can be no doubt of their durability, and of their yielding any number of impressions that may be wanted. This essential point is therefore secured; and it only remains to endeavour to improve, as far as possible, the execution of the etchings themselves.
I am, &c.
H.F. Talbot.
Lacock Abbey, April 11.
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 06749.
2. 4 April 1853. See Doc. No: 06749.