[draft]

Scott Russell Nov 7 / 51

I h^ve bⁿ adv^sd b my fr^d M^r W. Cp^ml to write / you to call y^r attⁿ as Sec^y of y^e R^l Comm^ners t[o] certⁿ proceed^gs w^ch h^ve taken place ^{under their authority (tho¡¯ scarcely wh their knowledge)} in y^e use of my photogr^c invⁿ by for obtaining phot^s of ye princip^l obj^ts in y^e Crystal palace.

M^r Carpm^l informs me that you are perfectly convers^t w^th y law of pat^s and that he ¡à he thinks it possible that you w^d take y^e same view of the matter that he does, on being informed of the circ^stces you would will be ready and willing to interpose your good offices to prevent other injurious conseq^{ces [illegible deletion} to me in conseqce of my my being a sufferer from having in full reliance upon y^e good faith of the Ex^ve Com^tee consented to this use of my invⁿ

To enter into details w^d exceed the limits of st a note, I will therefore do myself y^e pleasure to call tomorrow at 4 oclock at G^t George S^t trusting that it may be conven^t to you to have 5¡ä convers^tn on y^e subject ¨C

[expanded version:]

Scott Russell Nov 7 / 51

I have been advised by my friend M^r William Carpmael ^<1> to write to you to call your attention as Secretary of the Royal Commissioners to certain proceedings which have taken place under their authority (though scarcely with their knowledge) in the use of my photographic invention by for obtaining photographs of the principal objects in the Crystal Palace. ^<2>

M^r Carpmael informs me that you are perfectly conversant with the law of patents and that he therefore he thinks it possible that you would take the same view of the matter that he does, on being informed of the circumstances you would will be ready and willing to interpose your good offices to prevent other injurious consequences [illegible deletion to me in conseqce of my my being a sufferer from having in full reliance upon the good faith of the Executive Committee ^<3> consented to this use of my invitation.

To enter into details would exceed the limits of st a note, I will therefore do myself the pleasure to call tomorrow at 4 o¡¯clock at Great George Street trusting that it may be convenient to you to have five minutes conversation on the subject ¨C

---

Notes:

1. William Carpmael (1804¨C1867), patent agent & engineer, London.

2. Designed by Sir Joseph Paxton (1801¨C1865) and erected in Hyde Park, London, 1850¨C1851, to accommodate the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was later moved to Sydenham Hill, South London, where a larger Crystal Palace was reopened in 1854. It was destroyed by fire in 1936.

3. The Executive Committee of the Great Exhibition. The photographs were eventually published in Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851: Reports by the Juries. Four volumes, illustrated by original photographic prints from negatives by Hugh Owen and Claude Marie Ferrier. In the copies given to WHFT, a dedicatory sheet was inserted (most likely printed up by him): 'This Work, on the Results of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Illustrated with Photographic Plates, being One of Fifteen Copies Given by the Royal Commissioners to H.F. Talbot, Esq. of Lacock Abbey, as The Inventor of this Branch of the Photographic Art, was by him presented to _____'. This publication caused WHFT considerable consternation at the time, for he felt that the Commissioners had stealthily and unfairly taken the job of printing the plates away from Nicolaas Henneman. For a summary of this complex situation, see Nancy B Keeler, 'Illustrating the "Reports by the Juries" of the Great Exhibition of 1851; Talbot, Henneman, and Their Failed Commission,' History of Photography, v. 6 no. 3, July 1982, pp. 257-272.