William Fox Talbot

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William Henry Fox Talbot (February 11, 1800 – September 17, 1877) was an early photographer who made major contributions to the photographic process. He is remembered as the holder of a patent which affected the early development of photography in England, and made some important early photographs of York - see "Nathaniel Whittock's bird's-eye view of the City of York in the 1850's" by Hugh Murray.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Invention of calotype process 3 Patenting controversy 4 Other activities 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early life

Talbot was the only child of William Davenport Talbot, of Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, and of Lady Elizabeth Fox Strangways, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Ilchester. He was educated at Rottingdean, Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained the Porson prize in 1820, and graduated as twelfth wrangler in 1821. From 1822 to 1872 he frequently communicated papers to the Royal Society, many of them on mathematical subjects. At an early period he had begun his optical researches, which were to have such important results in connection with photography. To the Edinburgh Journal of Science in 1826 he contributed a paper on "Some Experiments on Colored Flame"; to the Quarterly Journal of Science in 1827 a paper on "Monochromatic Light"; and to the Philosophical Magazine a number of papers on chemical subjects, including one on "Chemical Changes of Colour."

[edit] Invention of calotype process

Talbot engaged in photographic experiments before Louis Daguerre exhibited in 1839 his pictures taken by the sun. After Daguerre's discovery was announced (without details), Talbot showed his four year old pictures at the Royal Institution on 25 January 1839. Within a fortnight, he freely communicated the technical details of his photogenic drawing process to the Royal Society - Daguerre would not reveal the manipulatory details of his process until August. In 1841 Talbot made known his discovery of the calotype or talbotype process. This process reflected the work of many predecessors, including John Herschel. Talbot's original contributions included the concept of a negative from which many positive prints can be made (although the terms negative and positive were coined by Herschel), and the use of gallic acid for developing latent image. For his photographic discoveries, which are detailed in his Pencil of Nature (1844), he received in 1842 the Rumford medal of the Academy of the Royal Society.

[edit] Patenting controversy

In February 1841, Talbot obtained a patent for the calotype process. At first he was selling individual patent licenses for £20 each, but later he lowered the fee to £4 and waived the payment for those who bought photographic materials from him. Professional photographers, however, had to pay up to £300 annually. Talbot's behavior was widely criticized, especially after 1851 when Frederick Scott Archer publicized the collodion process he had invented. Talbot declared that anyone using Archer's process would still be liable to get a license from Talbot for calotype (Archer himself never obtained a patent for collodion).

One reason Talbot patented the calotype was that he was aware that Daguerre was developing a photographic process. Talbot had no details, and this was after he had spent many thousands of pounds (then a small fortune) on his process over several years. Talbot's first process photogenic drawing used sensitized paper in his photogrammes (objects placed between a light source and the sensitive paper leaving a shadow image). The image was desensitized by soaking in a bath of sodium chloride.

The calotype was a refinement of this process where the negative paper direct image was printed onto a second sensitized sheet placed underneath. The negative meant that the print could be reproduced as many times as was required. The daguerrotype was a single image process and not reproducible, just as a Polaroid colour photograph where a copy has to be made. On the other hand, the calotype, despite waxing of the negative paper to make the image clearer, still was not pin sharp like the metallic daguerrotype as the paper fibres degraded the image produced.

The problem was resolved in 1851 (the year of Daguerre's death) when the wet collodion process enabled glass to be used as a support. With glass support, the negative (refined paper calotype) won the war.

Daguerre, at first, attempted to sell his process, but found no buyers. He then sought the backing of the French Government through his aquaintance with the French Scientist Arago. Daguerre was awarded a pension for the details of his process with the French government declaring that his process would be made free to the world. Joseph Nicephore Niepce, Daguerre's partner from 1829 until his death in 1833 was never to receive a pension for his part in the development, though his son was eventually given a pension.

After receiving his pension, Daguerre worked no further to develop his process. The French government, as they had promised, released the daguerreotype process without patent worldwide except for England where it quietly was patented a few days before the announcement. The purpose behind this patenting in England is not clear, but perhaps it was to stop Talbot from claiming priority or developing his system against Daguerre. Talbot's negative/positive process eventually succeeded as the basis for almost all 19th and 20th century photography. The daguerreotype, although stunningly beautiful, was rarely used by photographers after 1860, and had died as a commercial process by 1865.

In August 1852, The Times published an open letter by Lord Rosse, the President of the Royal Society, and Charles Lock Eastlake, the president of the Royal Academy, who called on Talbot to relieve his patent pressure that was perceived as stifling the development of photography. In his response, Talbot agreed to waive licensing fees for amateurs, but he continued to pursue professional portrait photographers, having filed several lawsuits. The cost of the license for anyone wishing to make portraits for sale was £100 for the first year and £150 each subsequent year.

In 1854 Talbot applied for an extension of the 14-year patent, to be expired in 1855. At that time one of his lawsuits, against a photographer Martin Laroche, was heard by the court. The Talbot v. Laroche case was the pivotal point of the story. Laroche's side argued that the patent was invalid, as a similar process was invented earlier by Joseph Reade, and that using the collodion process does not infringe the calotype patent anyway 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. Photography was finally free of ( the first ) patent encumbrance.

[edit] Other activities

He was active in politics, being a moderate Reformer who generally supported the Whig Ministers. He served as Member of Parliament for Chippenham between 1832 and 1835 when he retired from Parliament. He also held the office of Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1840.

Whilst engaged in his scientific researches he devoted much time to archaeology. He published Hermes, or Classical and Antiquarian Researches (1838-39), and Illustrations of the Antiquity of the Book of Genesis (1839). With Sir Henry Rawlinson and Dr Edward Hincks he shares the honour of having been one of the first decipherers of the cuneiform inscriptions of Nineveh. He was also the author of English Etymologies (1846).

In 1843-44, he set up his establishment in Baker Street, Reading where he remained for three years. He died at Lacock Abbey.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Who's Who of Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by Michael Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)

[edit] External links

• The Fox Talbot Museum
• The correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot
• `Talbot' vs. `Fox Talbot'
• The Calotype Patent Lawsuit of Talbot v. Laroche, 1854
• Talbot and Photogenic Drawing

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Joseph Neeld and Henry George Boldero	Member of Parliament for Chippenham with Joseph Neeld 1832–1835	Succeeded by Joseph Neeld and Henry George Boldero