44 Queen Ann St <1>
Feb. 2. 1839
Dear Sir
I enclose a transparent drawing which I imagine may prove a good subject, if you like to copy it with the carbonate of silver, & then transfer it again, so as to have its original lights & shades –
I forgot to mention that I understood on further inquiry, that the obnoxious clause in the regulations of the Royal Society <2> no longer exists, viz. “that the paper should not be reprinted till 6 weeks after the publication of the vol. of the Transactions. <3>”
That being the case, there was no longer any reason for wishing to break through the rules in this instance, as there is a Council & committee of papers next Thursday, when I trust they will decide respecting giving my paper a place in the Transactions –
The Editor of the Athenæum wanted to print the whole paper in his publication of this day, which I would not consent to, for the reason of its being contrary to the rules; but it will appear next Saturday. <4> Messrs Taylor are now printing it, <5> & only wait for the decision of the Council, to know if the titlepage is to say “from the Transactions” or not. I hope that you will continue the very interesting experiments which you shewed me yesterday as I am anxious that something should be effected worthy of the scientific reputation of the Country.
Believe me Dear Sir Yours most truly
H.F. Talbot
Notes:
1. London.
2. The Royal Society of London, disliked the idea of WHFT publishing ‘Some Account of the Art of Photogenic Drawing’, in the The Athenaeum (London), as it contravened a rule about prior publication.
3. The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.
4. WHFT, ‘Some Account of the Art of Photogenic Drawing, or the Process by which Natural Objects may be made to Delineate Themselves without the Aid of the Artist’s pencil’, Athenaeum, no. 589, 9 February 1839, pp.114–117.
5. WHFT, Some Account of the Art of Photogenic Drawing, or the Process by which Natural Objects may be made to Delineate Themselves without the Aid of the Artist’s pencil. Read before the Royal Society, January 31, 1839 (London: R & J E Taylor, 1839).