Bath: Monmouth Calotype 1989
Encyclopedia
The 1989 Monmouth Calotype Edition of WHF Talbot's Pencil of Nature.
This eminent and important work, originally published in 1844 in six parts was republished in 1989 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the announcement of the invention of the daguerreotype
by François Arago
, January 1839.
published the first part of his book The Pencil of Nature
and marked with it not only the beginning of photography
on paper but created the first book in the world containing photographic illustrations with descriptive and didactic texts. The original idea came from the discoverer of the negative/positive process; his aim and intention being to demonstrate the ubiquitous properties of this new form of image-making. The book was originally published in six parts and was left to the individual subscribers to collate and bind the work into a single volume.
In order to produce The Pencil of Nature Talbot set the first photographic printing
facility, the Reading Establishment under the direction of Nicolaas Henneman in January 1844. It was at this works that the images were printed. In effect this was the pilot project which was set up to show some of the possible future uses of photography.
Today, more than 160 years after, this is the rarest and most sought after book in photography. According to Beaumont Newhall
only twenty or so complete copies are known to survive, making it rarer than the Gutenberg Bible
.
The new 1989 edition was exhibited in 1999 at the Fox Talbot Museum together as part of a contextual installation which set the publication in its historical context and to show, for the first time a selection of Talbot's original draft texts for the introduction together with an unpublished manuscript for a projected additional part which was never realised.
The Monmouth Calotype edition contains twenty-four gold-toned silver/salt paper prints. All the prints were exposed and processed according to Talbot’s original formula and printed in sunlight.
In order to make this facsimile
edition to the highest possible standard, exhaustive research was undertaken to the most suitable paper that would match the original for tone, texture and substance whilst at the same to be of archival quality. The particular characteristics of silver/salt paper prints posed immensely difficult problems that were solved using long forgotten copying techniques and unconventional use of modern materials; unfortunately, with one or two rare exceptions the tipped in original salt paper prints have degraded to a greater or lesser degree, due to the lack of knowledge at the time of the acidic content of the board and paper or the effect of small residual traces of hypo.
Very few people have had the opportunity to view Talbot's original publication: only very few specimens prints are known to survive in pristine condition. The existence of this new edition will enable the book to be seen, as close as is possible to the condition and state as when first published more than 160 years ago.
The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot Esq, first published by Longman, Brown Green and Longmans between 1844 and 1846 in six parts. Facsimile edition republished in 1989 by Monmouth Calotype in an edition of 50 copies.
This eminent and important work, originally published in 1844 in six parts was republished in 1989 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the announcement of the invention of the daguerreotype
Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate....
by François Arago
François Arago
François Jean Dominique Arago , known simply as François Arago , was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician.-Early life and work:...
, January 1839.
History
In June 1844 William Henry Fox TalbotWilliam Fox Talbot
William Henry Fox Talbot was a British inventor and a pioneer of photography. He was the inventor of calotype process, the precursor to most photographic processes of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was also a noted photographer who made major contributions to the development of photography as an...
published the first part of his book The Pencil of Nature
The Pencil of Nature
The Pencil of Nature, published in six installments between 1844 and 1846, was the "first photographically illustrated book to be commercially published" or "the first commercially published book illustrated with photographs"...
and marked with it not only the beginning of photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
on paper but created the first book in the world containing photographic illustrations with descriptive and didactic texts. The original idea came from the discoverer of the negative/positive process; his aim and intention being to demonstrate the ubiquitous properties of this new form of image-making. The book was originally published in six parts and was left to the individual subscribers to collate and bind the work into a single volume.
In order to produce The Pencil of Nature Talbot set the first photographic printing
Photographic printing
Photographic printing is the process of producing a final image on paper for viewing, using chemically sensitized paper. The paper is exposed to a photographic negative, a positive transparency , or a digital image file projected using an enlarger or digital exposure unit such as a LightJet printer...
facility, the Reading Establishment under the direction of Nicolaas Henneman in January 1844. It was at this works that the images were printed. In effect this was the pilot project which was set up to show some of the possible future uses of photography.
Today, more than 160 years after, this is the rarest and most sought after book in photography. According to Beaumont Newhall
Beaumont Newhall
Beaumont Newhall was an influential curator, art historian, writer, and photographer. His The History of Photography remains one of the most significant accounts in the field and has become a classic photo history textbook...
only twenty or so complete copies are known to survive, making it rarer than the Gutenberg Bible
Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed with a movable type printing press, and marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of the printed book. Widely praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities, the book has an iconic status...
.
Republishing
In 1989 a facsimile edition of fifty numbered copies of this most outstanding work was published by Monmouth Calotype.The new 1989 edition was exhibited in 1999 at the Fox Talbot Museum together as part of a contextual installation which set the publication in its historical context and to show, for the first time a selection of Talbot's original draft texts for the introduction together with an unpublished manuscript for a projected additional part which was never realised.
The Monmouth Calotype edition contains twenty-four gold-toned silver/salt paper prints. All the prints were exposed and processed according to Talbot’s original formula and printed in sunlight.
In order to make this facsimile
Facsimile
A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in terms of scale,...
edition to the highest possible standard, exhaustive research was undertaken to the most suitable paper that would match the original for tone, texture and substance whilst at the same to be of archival quality. The particular characteristics of silver/salt paper prints posed immensely difficult problems that were solved using long forgotten copying techniques and unconventional use of modern materials; unfortunately, with one or two rare exceptions the tipped in original salt paper prints have degraded to a greater or lesser degree, due to the lack of knowledge at the time of the acidic content of the board and paper or the effect of small residual traces of hypo.
Very few people have had the opportunity to view Talbot's original publication: only very few specimens prints are known to survive in pristine condition. The existence of this new edition will enable the book to be seen, as close as is possible to the condition and state as when first published more than 160 years ago.
The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot Esq, first published by Longman, Brown Green and Longmans between 1844 and 1846 in six parts. Facsimile edition republished in 1989 by Monmouth Calotype in an edition of 50 copies.