View source for Henry Fox Talbot

{{Short description|English photography pioneer (1800–1877)}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Henry Fox Talbot
| honorific_suffix   = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|FRSE|FRAS|size=100%}}
| image              = Talbot by Claudet.jpg
| caption            = Daguerreotype by [[Antoine Claudet]], {{circa}} 1844
| birth_name         = William Henry Fox Talbot
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1800|2|11|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Melbury Sampford]], [[Dorset]], [[England]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1877|9|17|1800|2|11|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Lacock]], [[Wiltshire]], England
| occupation         = Scientist and inventor
| awards             = [[Royal Medal]] (1838)<br />[[Rumford Medal]] (1842)
| spouse             = [[Constance Fox Talbot|Constance Talbot]]
| parents            = William Davenport Talbot <br />Elisabeth Fox Strangways
| known_for          = Pioneering photography
| children           = Ela (1835–1893)<br />Rosamond (1837–1906)<br /> Matilda (1839–1927)<br /> Charles (1842–1916)
}}

'''William Henry Fox Talbot''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɔː|l|b|ə|t}}; 11 February 1800{{spaced ndash}}17 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the [[Salt print|salted paper]] and [[calotype]] processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries. His work in the 1840s on photomechanical reproduction led to the creation of the photoglyphic engraving process, the precursor to [[photogravure]]. He was the holder of a controversial patent that affected the early development of commercial photography in Britain. He was also a noted photographer who contributed to the development of photography as an artistic medium. He published ''[[The Pencil of Nature]]'' (1844–1846), which was illustrated with original salted paper prints from his calotype [[Negative (photography)|negatives]] and made some important [[early photographers of York|early photographs]] of Oxford, Paris, [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], and York.<ref>[[Hugh Murray (York historian)|Hugh Murray]], ''[[Nathaniel Whittock]]'s bird's-eye view of the City of York in the 1850s''</ref>

A [[polymath]], Talbot was elected to the [[Royal Society]] in 1831 for his work on the [[integral calculus]], and researched in [[optics]], [[chemistry]], electricity and other subjects such as [[etymology]], the decipherment of [[cuneiform]], and [[ancient history]].

== Early life ==
Talbot was born in [[Melbury House]] in Dorset<ref>{{Cite web |title=Melbury Sampford Parish Records, Dorset |url=https://www.opcdorset.org/MelburySampfordFiles/MelburySampford.htm |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=opcdorset.org}}</ref> and was the only child of William Davenport Talbot, of [[Lacock Abbey]], near [[Chippenham]], Wiltshire, and his wife Lady Elisabeth Fox Strangways, daughter of the [[Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester|2nd Earl of Ilchester]]. His governess was [[Agnes Porter]] who had also educated his mother.<ref>Joanna Martin, 'Porter, (Ann) Agnes (c.1752–1814)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/67676, accessed 11 Aug 2017]</ref> Talbot was educated at [[Rottingdean]], [[Harrow School]] and at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], where he was awarded the [[Porson Prize]] in Classics in 1820, and graduated as twelfth [[Wrangler (University of Cambridge)|wrangler]] in 1821.<ref>{{acad|id=TLBT817WH|name=Talbot, William Henry Fox}}</ref> From 1822 to 1872, he communicated papers to the Royal Society, many of them on mathematical subjects. At an early period, he began optical research, which later bore fruit in connection with photography. To the ''[[Edinburgh Philosophical Journal]]'' in 1826 he contributed a paper on "Some Experiments on Coloured Flame"; to the ''[[Quarterly Journal of Science]]'' in 1827 a paper on "Monochromatic Light"; and to the ''[[Philosophical Magazine]]'' papers on chemical subjects, including one on "Chemical Changes of Colour".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

== Photographic inventions ==
[[File:Latticed window at lacock abbey 1835.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Latticed window at [[Lacock Abbey]], August 1835. A positive from what may be the oldest existing camera negative.<ref>[http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDate.php?month=1&year=1839&pageNumber=8&pageTotal=11&referringPage=0 A contemporary letter by Talbot] states that his January 1839 Royal Institution exhibit included "...various pictures, representing the architecture of my house in the country ... made with the Camera Obscura in the summer of 1835." A basis for naming this famous image as ''the'' oldest among the surviving camera negatives of similar date is not apparent.</ref>]]

Talbot invented a process for creating reasonably light-fast and permanent photographs that was the first made available to the public; however, his was neither [[View from the Window at Le Gras|the first such process invented]] nor the first one publicly announced.<ref>[[Jennie Boddington|Boddington, Jennie]] & State Library of Victoria (1989). The new art : photographs by William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877), La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria : Fox Talbot and the invention of photography. State Library of Victoria, [Melbourne, Vic.]</ref>

Shortly after [[Louis Daguerre]]'s invention of the [[daguerreotype]] was announced in early January 1839, without details, Talbot asserted priority of invention based on experiments he had begun in early 1834. At a Friday Evening Discourse at the [[Royal Institution]] on 25 January 1839, Talbot exhibited several paper photographs he had made in 1835. Within a fortnight, he communicated the general nature of his process to the Royal Society, followed by more complete details a few weeks later. Daguerre did not publicly reveal any useful details until mid-August, although by the spring it had become clear that his process and Talbot's were very different.

Talbot's early "salted paper" or "photogenic drawing" process<ref>Album of Photogenic Drawings (1839-1840) (in Italian : ''[https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/268303 Album di disegni fotogenici])'' by William Henry Fox Talbot British & (likely) Sebastiano Tassinari (metmuseum.org)</ref><sup>,</sup><ref>{{Cite web |title=Talbot's Processes - Photographic Processes Series - Chapter 3 of 12 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2zXypdzB8A |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=www.youtube.com| date=3 August 2018 }}</ref> used writing paper bathed in a weak solution of ordinary table salt ([[sodium chloride]]), dried, then brushed on one side with a strong solution of [[silver nitrate]], which created a tenacious coating of very light-sensitive [[silver chloride]] that darkened where it was exposed to light. Whether used to create shadow image [[photogram]]s by placing objects on it and setting it out in the sunlight, or to capture the dim images formed by a [[Lens (optics)|lens]] in a [[Camera obscura|camera]], it was a "printing out" process, meaning that the exposure had to continue until the desired degree of darkening had been produced. In the case of camera images, that could require an exposure of an hour or two if something more than a silhouette of objects against a bright sky was wanted. Earlier experimenters such as [[Thomas Wedgwood (photographer)|Thomas Wedgwood]] and [[Nicéphore Niépce]] had captured shadows and camera images with silver salts years before, but they could find no way to prevent their photographs from fatally darkening all over when exposed to daylight. Talbot devised several ways of chemically stabilizing his results, making them sufficiently insensitive to further exposure that direct sunlight could be used to print the negative image produced in the camera onto another sheet of salted paper, creating a positive.

== The Calotype ==

{{Main|Calotype}}

[[File:Talbot Harfe.jpg|thumb|right|Horatia Feilding, half-sister of Talbot, playing the harp, c. 1842]]
[[File:David Octavius Hill.jpg|thumb|Salted paper print of [[David Octavius Hill]] from a calotype by [[Robert Adamson (photographer)|Robert Adamson]], c. 1845]]
[[File:Talbot Gravur.jpg|thumb|left|''Photoglyptic gravure'' image of plants (c. 1860)]]

The "calotype", or "talbotype",<ref>Talbot regarded the two names as interchangeable—see [https://patents.google.com/patent/US5171 U.S. Patent 5171]</ref> was a "developing out" process, Talbot's improvement of his earlier photogenic drawing process by the use of a different silver salt ([[silver iodide]] instead of silver chloride) and a developing agent ([[gallic acid]] and silver nitrate) to bring out an invisibly slight [[Latent image|"latent" image]] on the exposed paper. This reduced the required exposure time in the camera to only a minute or two for subjects in bright sunlight. The [[translucent]] calotype negative made it possible to produce as many positive prints as desired by simple [[contact print]]ing, whereas the [[daguerreotype]] was an opaque direct positive that could be reproduced only by being copied with a camera. On the other hand, the calotype, despite waxing of the negative to make the image clearer, still was not pin-sharp like the metallic daguerreotype, because the paper fibres blurred the printed image. The simpler salted paper process was normally used when making prints from calotype negatives.

Talbot announced his calotype process in 1841, and in August he licensed [[Henry Collen]], the miniature painter, as the first professional calotypist. The most celebrated practitioners of the process were [[Hill & Adamson]]. Another notable calotypist was [[Levett Landon Boscawen Ibbetson]].

In 1842, Talbot received the [[Rumford Medal]] of the Royal Society for his photographic discoveries.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/fox_talbot_william_henry.shtml BBC – History – Historic Figures: William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877)] [[BBC]]</ref>

In 1852, Talbot discovered that [[gelatine]] treated with [[potassium dichromate]], a sensitiser introduced by [[Mungo Ponton]] in 1839, is made less soluble by exposure to light. This later provided the basis for the important [[carbon print]]ing process and related technologies. Dichromated gelatine is still used for some laser [[holography]].

Talbot's later photographic work was concentrated on photomechanical reproduction methods. In addition to making the mass reproduction of photographic images more practical and much less expensive, rendering a photograph into ink on paper, known to be permanent on a scale of hundreds if not thousands of years, was clearly one sure way to avoid the problems with fading that had soon become apparent in early types of silver image paper prints. Talbot created the photoglyphic (or "photoglyptic") engraving process, later perfected by others as the photogravure process.
{{clear}}

== Patenting controversy ==
[[File:William Fox Talbot 1853.jpg|thumb|right|The photographic workshop in [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], 1846<!--Please do not identify the figure at right as Talbot: this is highly debatable, and it is more likely Benjamin Cowderoy (see citation)--><ref>{{cite web |first=Larry J. |last=Schaaf |title=The Reading establishment's 'hidden mysteries' |work=The Talbot Catalogue Raisonné |date=9 December 2016 |url=http://foxtalbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/2016/12/09/hidden-mysteries-connected-with-the-subject/ |access-date=24 December 2017}}</ref>]]

Daguerre's work on his process had commenced at about the same time as Talbot's earliest work on his salted paper process. In 1839, Daguerre's agent applied for English and Scottish<!-- separate patent systems at that time --> patents only a matter of days before France, having granted Daguerre a pension for it, declared his invention "free to the world." The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], along with the [[British Empire]], therefore became the only places where a licence was legally required to make and sell daguerreotypes.<ref>[http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/1_early/1_early_photography_-_processes_-_daguerreotype.htm "Early photography processes – daguerreotype"]. Edinphoto.org.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2015.</ref> This exception is now usually regarded as both an expression of old national animosities, still smouldering just 24 years after [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]], and a reaction to Talbot's patent. Talbot never attempted to patent any part of his printed-out silver chloride "photogenic drawing" process and his calotype patent was not registered in Scotland.

In February 1841, Talbot obtained an English<!-- but not a Scottish! --> patent for his developed-out calotype process. At first, he sold individual patent [[licence]]s for £20 each; later, he lowered the fee for amateur use to £4. Professional photographers, however, had to pay up to £300 annually. In a business climate where many patent holders were attacked for enforcing their rights, and an academic world that viewed the patenting of new discoveries as a hindrance to scientific freedom and further progress, Talbot's behaviour was widely criticised. On the other hand, many scientists supported his patent and they gave expert evidence in later trials. In addition, the calotype method was free for scientific uses, an area that Talbot himself pioneered, such as [[photomicrography]]. One reason Talbot later gave for vigorously enforcing his rights was that he had spent, according to his own reckoning, about £5,000 on his various photographic endeavours over the years and wanted to at least recoup his expenses.

[[File:London Street, Reading, c. 1845.jpg|thumb|left|London Street, [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], c. 1845, a modern positive from Talbot's original calotype negative]]
In 1844, Talbot helped set up an establishment in Russell Terrace (now Baker Street), [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], for mass-producing salted paper prints from his calotype negatives. The Reading Establishment, as it was known, also offered services to the public, making prints from others' negatives, copying artwork and documents, and taking portraits at its studio.<ref>[http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/283065 Online label for a diptych view of the Reading Establishment], Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Retrieved 5 June 2015.</ref> The enterprise was not a success.

In 1851, the year of Daguerre's death, [[Frederick Scott Archer]] publicised the [[collodion process|wet collodion process]], which made it practical to use glass instead of paper as the support for making the camera negative. The lack of detail often criticised in prints made from calotype negatives was overcome, and sharp images, comparable in detail to daguerreotypes, could finally be provided by convenient paper prints. The collodion process soon replaced the calotype in commercial use, and by the end of the decade, the daguerreotype was virtually extinct as well.

Asserting a very broad interpretation of his patent rights, Talbot declared that anyone using the collodion process would still need to get a calotype licence.

In August 1852, ''[[The Times]]'' published an open letter by [[William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse|Lord Rosse]], the president of the Royal Society, and [[Charles Lock Eastlake]], the president of the [[Royal Academy]], who called on Talbot to relieve the patent pressure that was perceived as stifling the development of photography. Talbot agreed to waive licensing fees for amateurs, but he continued to pursue professional portrait photographers, having filed several lawsuits.

In 1854, Talbot applied for an extension of the 14-year patent. At that time, one of his lawsuits, against photographer [[Martin Laroche]], was heard in court. The ''[[Talbot v. Laroche]]'' case proved to be pivotal. Laroche's side argued that the patent was invalid, as a similar process had been invented earlier by [[Joseph Bancroft Reade|Joseph Reade]], and that using the collodion process did not infringe the calotype patent in any case, because of significant differences between the two processes. In the verdict, the jury upheld the calotype patent but agreed that Laroche was not infringing upon it by using the collodion process. Disappointed by the outcome, Talbot chose not to extend his patent.

== 1844 calotype of Thomas Moore and the Talbot household ==
[[File:Thomas_Moore_1844.jpeg|right|thumb|Moore stands centre in a photograph by William Henry Fox Talbot dated April 1844]]
Talbot was a friend and neighbour in Wiltshire of the famed Irish poet and writer [[Thomas Moore]]. Dated April 1844, Talbot made a calotype of Moore as a visitor standing with members of his own household.

The distinctive curls identify Talbot's half sister Henrietta Horatia Fielding standing to his left.&nbsp; Eliza Frayland, the nursemaid at the far left, had come into the family's employ with the birth of Charles Henry Talbot in 1842.&nbsp; Arranged in the front are Matilda Caroline (later Gilchrist-Clark, age 5); Ela Theresa (age 9);&nbsp; Rosamond Constance Talbot (age 7).&nbsp; The woman at the right is possibly Moore's wife Bessy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Schaaf|first=Larry J.|title=Thomas Moore & the Ladies of Lacock|date=16 September 2016 |url=https://talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/2016/09/16/thomas-moore-the-ladies-of-lacock/|access-date=2021-03-23|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Moore took an early interest in Talbot's photogenic drawings. Talbot, in turn, took images of Moore's hand-written poetry possibly for inclusion in facsimile in an edition of ''[[The Pencil of Nature]].''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Talbot Correspondence Project: MOORE Thomas (poet) to TALBOT William Henry Fox|url=http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=5028|access-date=2021-03-23|website=foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk}}</ref>

== Spectroscopic and optical investigations ==
[[File:Photomicrograph of insect wings - By William Henry Fox Talbot.jpg|thumb|right|[[Photomicrograph]] of insect wings by Talbot using a [[Projector#Solar_microscope|solar microscope]]]]

Talbot was one of the earliest researchers into the field of [[Spectroscopy|spectral analysis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spectroscopyonline.com/spectroscopy/Articles/William-Henry-Fox-Talbot-and-the-Foundations-of-Sp/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/807679?contextCategoryId=35802|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141120211126/http://www.spectroscopyonline.com/spectroscopy/Articles/William-Henry-Fox-Talbot-and-the-Foundations-of-Sp/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/807679?contextCategoryId=35802|archive-date=2014-11-20|url-status=live|title=William Henry Fox Talbot and the Foundations of Spectrochemical Analysis|author=Volker Thomsen|date=2013-05-01|publisher=Spectroscopy|access-date=2014-11-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Talbot |first1=H.F. |title=Some experiments on coloured flames |journal=The Edinburgh Journal of Science |date=1826 |volume=5 |pages=77–81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mfo7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA77}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Talbot |first1=H.F. |title=Facts relating to optical science. No. 1. |journal=Philosophical Magazine |date=1834 |volume=4 |issue=20 |pages=112–114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKo0I60JlggC&pg=PA112 |series=3rd series}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Talbot |first1=H.F. |title=On the nature of light |journal=Philosophical Magazine |date=1835 |volume=7 |pages=113–118 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3728374;view=1up;seq=127 |series=3rd series}}</ref> He showed that the spectrum of each of the [[chemical element]]s was unique and that it was possible to identify the chemical elements from their [[Spectrum|spectra]]. Such analysis was to become important in examining the light from distant stars, and hence inferring their atomic composition.<ref>{{cite book|author=John S. Rigden|title=Hydrogen: The Essential Element|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhFxn_lUvz0C|date=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-01252-3|page=22}}</ref> He also investigated the [[polarization of light]] using [[tourmaline]] crystals and [[iceland spar]] or [[calcite]] crystals, and pioneered the design and use of the [[polarizing microscope]], now widely used by geologists for examining thin rock sections to identify minerals within them.

[[File:-Dandelion Seeds- MET DP106960.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Dandelion]] seeds (1858 or later)]]
Talbot allowed free use of the [[calotype process]] for scientific applications, and he himself published the first known photomicrograph of a mineral crystal. Another photomicrograph shows insect wings as seen in the "solar microscope" he and others developed for projecting images onto a large screen of tiny objects using sunlight as a light source. The large projections could then be photographed by exposure to sensitized paper. He studied the [[diffraction]] of light using [[grating]]s and discovered a new phenomenon, now known as the [[Talbot effect]].

Talbot was very keen on applying the calotype method to recording natural phenomena, such as plants for example, as well as buildings and landscapes. The calotype technique was offered free by Talbot for scientific and amateur use. He was aware that the [[visible spectrum]] comprised a very small part of what we now know as [[electromagnetic radiation]], and that powerful and invisible light beyond the violet was capable of inducing chemical effects, a type of radiation we now call [[ultra-violet radiation]].

== Other activities ==
[[File:Fox Talbot grave.jpg|thumb|right|Talbot family grave in [[Lacock]] village cemetery<ref>{{cite book|last=Greenwood|first=Douglas|title=Who's buried where in England|edition=Third|year=1999|publisher=Constable|location=London|isbn=0094793107|pages=197–199|chapter=5: Scientists, Doctors, Businessmen, Engineers and Industrialists}}</ref>]]
Talbot was active in politics, being a moderate Reformer who generally supported the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] Ministers. He served as member of parliament for [[Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chippenham]] between 1832 and 1835 when he retired from parliament. He also held the office of [[High Sheriff of Wiltshire]] in 1840.

While engaged in his scientific researches, Talbot devoted much time to archaeology. He had a 20-year involvement in the field of [[Assyriology]], the study of the history, archaeology and culture of [[Mesopotamia]] (present-day [[Iraq]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2014/06/the-talented-mr-fox-talbot-part-4-assyriology.html|title=The talented Mr Fox Talbot Part 4 – Assyriology|website=blogs.bl.uk}}</ref> With [[Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet|Henry Rawlinson]] and [[Edward Hincks]] he shares the honour of having been one of the first decipherers of the [[cuneiform (script)|cuneiform]] inscriptions of [[Nineveh]].  He published ''Hermes, or Classical and Antiquarian Researches'' (1838–39), and ''Illustrations of the Antiquity of the [[Book of Genesis]]'' (1839). He was also the author of ''English Etymologies'' (1846).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
[[File:Talbot,_William_Henry_Fox_-_»Die_drei_Grazien«_(Zeno_Fotografie).jpg|thumb|Talbot, William Henry Fox – ''Die drei Grazien'' (Zeno Fotografie)]]

== Selected works ==
*''Hermes, or Classical and Antiquarian Researches'' (1838–39)
*''Illustrations of the Antiquity of the Book of Genesis'' (1839)
*''The Pencil of Nature'' (1844–46)
*''Sun pictures in Scotland'' (1845)
*''Loch Katrine'' (c. 1845) Salt print from calotype negative | 8x9 in. [[Birmingham Museum of Art]] 
*''English Etymologies'' (1846)

== Posthumous recognition ==
In 1966 Talbot was inducted into the [[International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Henry Fox Talbot |url=https://iphf.org/inductees/william-henry-fox-talbot/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=International Photography Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Talbot, William Henry Fox|volume=26|page=368}}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Talbot, William Henry Fox}}
* {{cite book |first=Martin |last=Andrews |title=Fox Talbot and the Reading Establishment |location=Reading |publisher=Two Rivers |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-901677-98-0 }}
* {{cite book |first=Arthur H. |last=Booth |title=William Henry Fox Talbot: father of photography |location=London |publisher=Arthur Barker |year=1965 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-first=Mirjam |editor1-last=Brusius |editor2-first=Katrina |editor2-last=Dean |editor3-first=Chitra |editor3-last=Ramalingam |title=William Henry Fox Talbot: beyond photography |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale Center for British Art |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-300-17934-7 |editor-link1=Mirjam Brusius}}
* {{cite book |first=Vered |last=Maimon |title=Singular Images, Failed Copies: William Henry Fox Talbot and the Early Photograph |publisher=Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-8166-9471-6 }}
* {{cite book |first=Larry J. |last=Schaaf |title=The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot |location=Princeton |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-691-05000-7 }}
* {{cite ODNB|first=Larry J.|last=Schaaf |title=Talbot, William Henry Fox (1800–1877) |year=2004|id=26946}}
* {{cite book |title=Who's Who of Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885 |editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Stenton |publisher=Harvester Press |location=Hassocks |year=1976 |isbn=0-391-00613-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoofbritish0002unse }}
* {{cite book |first1=Roger |last1=Watson |first2=Helen |last2=Rappaport |title=Capturing the Light |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4472-1258-4 }}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-william-talbot | William Fox Talbot }}
* [http://foxtalbot.co.uk/ Fox Talbot Museum]
* [http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/letters.html The correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot]
* [http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/talbot/t_or_ft.html `Talbot' vs. `Fox Talbot']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070923072803/http://www.midley.co.uk/laroche/TalbotvLaroche.htm The Calotype Patent Lawsuit of Talbot v. Laroche, 1854, by R. D. Wood]
* [http://www.photograms.org/chapter02.html Talbot and Photogenic Drawing]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141018/http://maca.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=all&CISOBOX1=&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP2=exact&CISOBOX2=William%20Henry%20Fox%20Talbot&CISOFIELD2=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP3=any&CISOBOX3=&CISOFIELD3=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP4=none&CISOBOX4=&CISOFIELD4=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=all&t=a Talbot materials in the Digital Collections of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass.]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/picture/2012/dec/10/photography-fox-talbot "William Henry Fox Talbot's Open Door: Picture of the day"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 10 December 2012
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Talbot}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=36415}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Henry Fox Talbot |sopt=t}}
* {{OL author|835486A}}
* [https://foxtalbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ The William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné]: online exhibit created by the Bodleian Library

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{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chippenham]]
  | with   = [[Joseph Neeld]]
  | years  = [[1832 United Kingdom general election|1832]]–[[1835 United Kingdom general election|1835]]
  | before = [[Joseph Neeld]] and<br /> [[Henry George Boldero]]
  | after  = [[Joseph Neeld]] and<br /> [[Henry George Boldero]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{19th-century English photographers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Henry Fox}}
[[Category:English inventors]]
[[Category:Pioneers of photography]]
[[Category:1800 births]]
[[Category:1877 deaths]]
[[Category:Independent scientists]]
[[Category:Archaeologists of Nineveh]]
[[Category:English Assyriologists]]
[[Category:Spectroscopists]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1832–1835]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Royal Medal winners]]
[[Category:People from Chippenham]]
[[Category:People educated at Harrow School]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fox family (English aristocracy)|Henry]]
[[Category:Talbot family|Henry]]
[[Category:19th-century English photographers]]
[[Category:Members of Parliament for Chippenham]]
[[Category:Photographers from Wiltshire]]