Research Catalog

Title

The pencil of nature / by H. Fox Talbot, Esq., F.R.S., &c. &c. &c.

Author

Talbot, William Henry Fox, 1800-1877

Publication

London : Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1844 [that is, 1844-1846].

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

80 unnumbered pages, 24 leaves of plates : 24 photographs; 31 cm

Subjects

• Salted paper prints
• Photographic prints > Great Britain > 19th century
• Photography > Early works to 1850

Genre/Form

• Photographic prints – Great Britain – 19th century.
• Salted paper prints.

Note

• For description and census of known surviving copies, see: Schaaf, Larry J. "Third census of H. Fox Talbot's The pencil of nature," in History of photography, v. 36 (2012), pages 99-120.
• Issued in 6 parts, 1844-1846 (all covers dated 1844). Part number is supplied in ink on front cover, following the printed word "No."
• Parts were issued 24 June 1844, 29 January 1845, 14/29 May 1845, 21 June 1845, 13/22 December 1845, and before 23 April 1846, respectively; see Schaaf.
• "The plates of the present work are impressed by the agency of light alone, without any aid whatever from the artist's pencil. They are the sun-pictures themselves, and not, as some persons have imagined, engravings in imitation"--"Notice to the reader," inserted in late copies of part 1 and in most copies of subsequent parts. The original notice, in 3 lines, appeared with part 2; an expanded version in 5 lines appeared in later parts, including late copies of part 1.
• Contains 24 mounted photographs (salted paper prints) by William Henry Fox Talbot, numbered in ink on the mount.
• Title page printed in red and black.

Additional Formats (note)

• Also available online via Nineteenth Century Collections Online.

Source (note)

• Lenox Library (see its Lenox library short-title lists, 1887-1890, page 74).

Provenance (note)

• Presentation copy, inscribed on front cover: "À M. [Hippolyte] Fizeau, de la part de l'auteur." "This is the only intact presentation copy known"--Schaaf.

Binding (note)

• Issued in illustrated paper covers, printed (chromolithographed) in red and black.

Call Number

*KF+ 1844 (Talbot, W. H. F. Pencil of nature. London)

LCCN

09016768

OCLC

3317813

Author

Talbot, William Henry Fox, 1800-1877, author, photographer.

Title

The pencil of nature / by H. Fox Talbot, Esq., F.R.S., &c. &c. &c.

Publisher

London : Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1844 [that is, 1844-1846].

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Local Note

In Schaaf's Third census, copy in *KF+ 1844 is no. 27 and copy in MFZ+ (Talbot) is no. 68.

Copy in MFZ+ (Talbot): Fizeau Collection.

Additional Formats

Also available online via Nineteenth Century Collections Online.

Binding

Issued in illustrated paper covers, printed (chromolithographed) in red and black.

Provenance

Copy in MFZ+ (Talbot): Presentation copy, inscribed on front cover: "À M. [Hippolyte] Fizeau, de la part de l'auteur." "This is the only intact presentation copy known"--Schaaf.

Local Note

Copy in *KF+ 1844: Front covers of original parts bound in at end. Three-line Notice in no. 5; 5-line Notice in no. 4

Copy in MFZ+ (Talbot): Part 1 only, containing 5 photographs. In original illustrated paper covers. "No price or part number has been filled in on the wrapper, indicating that Talbot selected it before it entered commercial channels"--Schaaf.

1258.

Source

Copy in *KF+ 1844: Lenox Library (see its Lenox library short-title lists, 1887-1890, page 74).

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Request access to this item in the Schwarzman Rare Books Collection

Added Author

Fizeau, H. (Hippolyte), 1819-1896. former owner (Copy in MFZ (Talbot))

Research Call Number

*KF+ 1844 (Talbot, W. H. F. Pencil of nature. London)

MFZ+ (Talbot) 17-2420