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Document number: 6507
Date: 07 Nov 1851
Dating: corrected from 6 Nov
Recipient: HUNT Robert
Author: TALBOT William Henry Fox
Collection: Royal Photographic Society Coll, National Media Museum, Bradford
Collection number: 141(a)
Last updated: 14th March 2012

[draft]

R Hunt

Nov 6 7 /51 (not sent)

wth refce / yr obsn yesty respectg a photc Club, I wd mentn that so long as gentn few in no & were practising this fascing art for their amust I had no wish to interfere – I only regretted that so few of ym either sent any courts acknowlt to myself or adhered to their promise of dealing with my Licensees Messrs Hennn & Co for their photc materials.

But at prest under ye prett of amusemt pretext of using this art for amust many persons use it for professl purposes most valuable to ym for instce the portrait painters – Nor wd it indeed be easy to draw the line between

You will easily understand how difficult unpleasant it is for me to single out any person in particr & subject him to ye annoyance of proceedgs in Chancy But if any gentn one wd come forward and offer to try ye right on behalf of the public, validity of ye patt I shd be vy mch obliged to him.

On Tuesday Governor Kossuth made an appointmt to sit for his portrait He [illegible deletion] The hour of noon was appointed fixed upon, but ye illustrs Magyar did not appear till nearly 3 clock This was putting ye powers of photography to a severe test on a hazy November afternoon, nevertheless a very fair portrait was obtained, of which I understd that numers copies will be published next week, entering exclusively for ye benefit of ye Hgn refugees. The price will be I shall have ye pleasure of presenting you with a copy.

[expanded version]

Robert Hunt

November 6 7 /1851 (not sent)

with reference to your observation yesterday respecting a Photographic Club, <1> I would mention that so long as gentlemen few in number & were practising this fascinating art for their amusement I had no wish to interfere – I only regretted that so few of them either sent any courteous acknowledgement to myself or adhered to their promise of dealing with my Licensees Messeurs Henneman & Company <2> for their photographic materials.

But at present under the pretext of amusement pretext of using this art for amusement many persons use it for professional purposes most valuable to them for instance the portrait painters – Nor would it indeed be easy to draw the line between

You will easily understand how difficult unpleasant it is for me to single out any person in particular and subject him to the annoyance of proceedings in Chancery. But if any gentleman one would come forward and offer to try the right on behalf of the public, validity of the patent I should be very much obliged to him.

On Tuesday Governor Kossuth <3> made an appointmt to sit for his portrait He [illegible deletion] The hour of noon was appointed fixed upon, but the illustrious Magyar did not appear till nearly 3 clock This was putting the powers of photography to a severe test on a hazy November afternoon, nevertheless a very fair portrait was obtained, of which I understand that numerous copies will be published next week, entering exclusively for the benefit of the Hungarian refugees. The price will be I shall have the pleasure of presenting you with a copy.


Notes:

1. The Photographic Club had been formed in 1847. In 1851 it was proposed to put the Club on to the more formal footing of a photographical society ‘for the disinterested advancement of the Photographic Science’. This raised the question of WHFT’s patent, many members feeling that his process should be given to the world. [See H. J. P. Arnold, William Henry Fox Talbot: Pioneer of photography and man of science (London: Hutchinson Benham, 1977), p. 188.]. Talbot’s relations with the Society never became really happy. It subsequently became the Royal Photographic Society.

2. Nicolaas Henneman (1813–1898), Dutch, active in England; WHFT’s valet, then assistant; photographer.

3. Louis Kossuth (1802–1894), Hungarian statesman until his expatriation in 1851, when he was forced to go to America with a short stop in Britain.

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