The Papers of William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) (1732-1952) (Add MS 88942) Table of Contents
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
British Library: Western Manuscripts The Papers of William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) (1732-1952) (Add MS 88942) Table of Contents The Papers of William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) (1732–1952) Key Details........................................................................................................................................ 1 Arrangement..................................................................................................................................... 1 Provenance........................................................................................................................................ 1 Add MS 88942/1 William Henry Fox Talbot: Notebooks and loose notes (1778–1877)............................. 2 Add MS 88942/2 William Henry Fox Talbot: Correspondence (1770–1952)............................................. 256 Add MS 88942/3 William Henry Fox Talbot: Printed material (1732–1950).............................................. 395 Add MS 88942/4 William Henry Fox Talbot: Legal and financial material (1796–1876)............................. 465 Add MS 88942/5 William Henry Fox Talbot: Pocket notebooks and diaries (1783–1951).......................... 508 Add MS 88942/6 William Henry Fox Talbot: Herbaria, botanical specimens and mosses (1827–1862)....... 559 Add MS 88942/7 William Henry Fox Talbot: Callings cards and invitations (1826–1937).......................... 569 Add MS 88942/8 William Henry Fox Talbot: Poetry and verse (1790–1844)............................................ 574 Add MS 88942/9 William Henry Fox Talbot: Miscellaneous material (1827–1864).................................... 576 Key Details Collection Area British Library: Western Manuscripts Reference Add MS 88942 Creation Date 1732-1952 Extent and Format 849 files Languages of Material English; Greek, Ancient; Latin; Akkadian; Arabic; Coptic; Cypriot; Danish; Dutch; Egyptian (Ancient); French; Gaelic; German; Germanic languages; Hebrew; Hindi; Icelandic; Indo-European languages; Irish; Italian; German, Middle High; Pashto; Persian; Persian, Old; Sanskrit; Spanish; Swedish; Syriac; Turkish, Ottoman; Welsh Access Conditions Unavailable as awaiting conservation Title The Papers of William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) (1732-1952) Former Internal Reference Deposit 10690 Scope and Content The British Library collection contains notebooks, letters, photographs, diaries, unbound Assyriological and mathematical folios, natural specimens in herbaria, offprints of Talbot’s articles, patents, artefacts and a small selection of books from Talbot’s library. Whilst the covering dates of the collection are 1732-1952, most of the material is from Talbot''s lifetime. The series are arranged as follows: • Add MS 88942/1 Notebooks and loose notes • Add MS 88942/2 Correspondence • Add MS 88942/3 Printed material • Add MS 88942/4 Legal and financial material • Add MS 88942/5 Pocket notebooks and diaries • Add MS 88942/6 Herbaria, botanical specimens and mosses • Add MS 88942/7 Calling cards and invitations • Add MS 88942/8 Poetry and verse • Add MS 88942/9 Miscellaneous material Arrangement The cataloguing of the notebooks of William Henry Fox Talbot in the Talbot Collection was generously supported by the AHRC through its Collaborative PhD Programme. Provenance Legal Status Not Public Record(s) Immediate Source of The Talbot Papers were donated to the British Library by the Talbot family Acquisition in 2005. Page 1 2021-08-21 Add MS 88942/1 William Henry Fox Talbot: Notebooks and loose notes (1778-1877) Collection Area British Library: Western Manuscripts Reference Add MS 88942/1 Creation Date 1778-1877 Extent and Format 386 folders Languages of Material English; Greek, Ancient; Latin; Akkadian; Arabic; Coptic; Cypriot; Danish; Dutch; Egyptian (Ancient); French; Gaelic; German; Germanic languages; Hebrew; Hindi; Icelandic; Indo-European languages; Irish; Italian; German, Middle High; Pashto; Persian; Persian, Old; Sanskrit; Spanish; Swedish; Syriac; Turkish, Ottoman; Welsh Title William Henry Fox Talbot: Notebooks and loose notes (1778-1877) Scope and Content Talbot's notebooks testify to his wide-ranging intellectual and practical scientific interests, which extended far beyond pioneering photographic research and invention to encompass research in mathematics, optics, astronomy, botany, horticulture, Assyriology, philology, and many associated avenues of interest. Talbot's notebooks sometimes contain an eclectic mixture of subject matter, recording not only the results of particular experiments, or lines of thought about a given subject, but also spontaneous and fleeting observations on ostensibly unrelated matters to which he would often return at a later date. In addition to notebooks of this character, the Series also includes more mundane records in notebook format relating to other aspects of Talbot's life: continental travel itineraries, address books, meticulous records of personal expenditure, as well as notebooks concerning his Lacock Estate responsibilities, from the maintenance of house and garden to records of tithe apportionment and the collection of rents from Estate tenants. Some of the notebooks are not in Talbot's hand but were completed by others (household and other records mainatined on his behalf, or notebooks kept by other family members such as Elisabeth Feilding and Henrietta Feilding); some items, such as two of Talbot's Passports, for example, are not notebooks at all (88942/1/297 and 88942/1/298). The notebooks span most of Talbot's life: the earliest notebook is dated 1806, when Talbot was six years old, and the last notebook was completed in 1877, the year of his death. There is a single earlier notebook (1778) belonging to one John Brickdale, which contains a fairhand copy of 'The Elements of Euclid' that was probably used in the course of Talbot's education. When a notebook was given a title by Talbot, it has been noted in the title field; a notebook without title (the majority) is simply recorded in the title field as 'Notebook'. Appendix III of the biography of Talbot by H. J. P. Arnold, William Henry Fox Talbot: Pioneer of Photography and Man of Science (1977), is a list of 'Talbot Notebooks'. Arnold's list of 36 notebooks is confined to Talbot's intellectual notebooks in the broad fields of 'Science and Mathematics' and 'Etymology and Philology', and thus excludes most of the notebooks in the present more broadly-grouped British Library Series. For convenience, Arnold's list is given below, correlated with British Library reference numbers: • 'Science and Mathematics': • B (1822) 88942/1/184; • C (1825) 88942/1/185; • D (1825-6) 88942/1/186; • E (1827) 88942/1/187; • F (1828-30) 88942/1/188; • I (1831-2) 88942/1/190; • J (1832-3) 88942/1/191; • K (1833-4) 88942/1/192; • M (1834-5) 88942/1/193; • N (1835-6) 88942/1/194; • O (1836-8) 88942/1/195; • P (1839-40) - held at National Media Museum, Bradford; • Q (1840-43) - held at National Media Museum, Bradford; • CC Mathematical Notebook (September 1836) 88942/1/197; • No code Mathematical Notebook (December 1837) 88942/1/203; • No code Botanical Notebook (1823-6) 88942/1/221; Page 2 2021-08-21 • No code 'The Garden' (1828-9) 88942/1/223. • 'Etymology and Philology': • No code (1833) 88942/1/49; • 'Called G' (1834) 88942/1/50; • S2 (1836) 88942/1/14; • S3 (1836) 88942/1/15; • S4 (1837) 88942/1/16; • S5 (1837) 88942/1/17; • U (1837) 88942/1/19; • U2 (1837) 88942/1/20; • V (1838) 88942/1/21; • W (1838) 88942/1/22; • X (1838) 88942/1/23; • Y (1838) 88942/1/24; • 'Separate Series': • B (1841) 88942/1/27; • C (1841) 88942/1/28; • D (1842) 88942/1/29; • G (1844) 88942/1/32; • J (1845) 88942/1/34; • K (1847) 88942/1/35; • M (1847) 88942/1/37. Arnold's list is now supplemented by other notebooks of a similar intellectual character. To the 'Science and Mathematics' sequence above can be added: Notebook 'A' (88942/1/183) and Notebook 'H' (88942/1/189). In further addition to Arnold's list, Notebook 'S1' (88942/1/13); and, in respect of the 'Separate Series', Notebook 'A' (88942/1/26), Notebook 'E' (88942/1/30), Notebook 'F' (88942/1/31), Notebook 'H' (88942//1/33) and Notebook 'L' (88942/1/36). As well as bound notebooks, Series (88942/1) includes loose notes starting from (88942/1/349) and continuing to (88942/1/384). These loose notes consist of fragments, single pages or a number of previously bound pages concerning a wide range of Talbot's intellectual and social interests: • Photography, (1839-1866). See 88942/1/349. • Photography, Photoglyphic etching and photographic licences, (1840-1900). See 88942/1/350. • Mathematics (1826-1877). See 88942/1/351 to 88942/1/362. • Astronomy (1822-1867). See 88942/1/363. • Botany (1823-1867). See 88942/1/364. • Scientific research and experiment (1827-1871). See 88942/1/365. • Etymology (1841-1846). See 88942/1/366 to 88942/1/369. • Etymology and philology (1835-1843). See 88942/1/370 to 88942/1/371. • Philology (1827). See 88942/1/372. • Assyriology (1834-1875). See 88942/1/373 to 88942/1/375. • Family history (1837-1880). See 88942/1/376. • Education (1807-1815). See 88942/1/377. • Books and publishing (1822-1847). See 88942/1/378. • Politics (1833-1845). See 88942/1/379. • The Lacock Estate (1826-1873). See 88942/1/380. • Railways and iron ore mining (1845-1858). See 88942/1/381. • Miscellaneous (loose notes) (1806-1872). See 88942/1/382 to 88942/1/386. Legal Status Not Public Record(s) Mirjam Brusius, 'Beyond Photography: An Introduction to William Henry Fox Talbot's Notebooks in the Talbot Collection at the