The British Library’s Talbot Collection comprises a major archive of correspondence, notebooks, photographs and other material relating to the life and work of the British inventor of photography William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877). This was formerly held at Talbot’s family home at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire and was presented to the British Library in 2006 by Petronella and Janet Burnett-Brown. These collections illustrate the breadth of Talbot’s cultural and scientific interests and achievements, in fields as diverse as mathematics, botany, astronomy and the decipherment of Assyrian cuneiform.
The photographic component of the collection comprises approximately 1,500 papers negatives and prints by Talbot and his circle made between 1839 and the mid-1840s. In addition to Talbot’s own photographs, the collection includes important work from the 1840s by contemporaries such as Rev Calvert Richard Jones (1804-1877) and Rev George Wilson Bridges (1788-1863). There is also a small collection of daguerreotypes which includes portraits of Talbot, his children and his manservant and assistant Nicolaas Henneman (1813-1898). This material is complemented by albums of drawings and prints by members of Talbot’s family.
While the William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonne Project brought the wider holdings of Talbot and his wider together on a single platform, the individual paper negatives and prints held in the British Library's collection are now digitally accessible through the Explore Archives and Manuscript online catalogue (select digital object). These can be magnified and downloaded under the Creative Commons Public Domain license.
For direct links to the Talbot Collection through the Explore Archives and Manuscripts catalogue or the Universal Viewer:
Talbot Photo 1: Talbot Collection: Negatives. Photographer: William Henry Fox Talbot, Nicolaas Henneman, Calvert Richard Jones, George Wilson Bridges and others - please note that the individual images can be accessed through the individual record (359 images)
Talbot Photo 2: Talbot Collection: Prints. Photographer(s): Talbot, William Henry Fox (759 images)
Talbot Photo 3: Talbot Collection: Stabilised Prints. Photographer(s): Talbot, William Henry Fox (188 images)
British Library Talbot Photo 1(1) Articles of china. Photographer: William Henry Fox Talbot (bl.uk)
As more of digitised photographic collections are made available through Explore Archives and Manuscripts, we will share updates when possible.
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