Inventing Photography: William Henry Fox Talbot in the Bodleian Library

William Henry Fox Talbot was a pioneering English inventor of photography who made significant contributions to the medium in the 1840s and 1850s. This volume showcases his work and includes an illustrated introduction that places his work within the context of a modernising Britain and his own social and intellectual milieu.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 16 March 2023
Publisher: Bodleian Library

William Henry Fox Talbot, a renowned English inventor of photography, is celebrated for his pioneering contributions to the field. In the 1830s, he conducted early photographic experiments and later shared the details of his photogenic drawing process in January 1839. Talbot's innovations in the 1840s and 1850s further shaped the medium. Drawing on archive material in the Bodleian Library, including three albums gifted by Talbot to his sister, Horatia Feilding, and his illustrated books, Sun Pictures in Scotland and The Pencil of Nature, this volume showcases Talbot's continuous invention of photography. A selection of eighty full-page plates provides a thematic survey of Talbot's work, featuring images that document his travels, his home and family, as well as his intellectual interests, ranging from science to literature to ancient languages. An illustrated introduction places Talbot's work within the context of a modernizing Britain and his own social and intellectual milieu, exploring how the competing daguerreotype process spurred Talbot to improve his techniques and seek new functions and uses for paper-based photographs. This evocative selection is a testament to Talbot's relentless pursuit of new photographic advances, offering a captivating glimpse into the archives of an exceptionally determined and creative man.

Weight: 1194g
Dimension: 244 x 266 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781851245963