Artist
William Henry Fox Talbot (British, 1800–1877)British, 1800–1877
CultureBritish
Titles
- The Pencil of Nature
Date1844
Place depictedEngland
MediumBook of salted paper prints from paper negatives
DimensionsSheet (varies): 6 1/4 × 7 7/8 in. (15.8 × 20 cm)
Sheet (varies): 9 1/16 × 9 in. (23 × 22.8 cm)
Overall (Closed): 11 15/16 × 9 5/8 × 13/16 in. (30.4 × 24.5 × 2 cm)
Sheet (varies): 9 1/16 × 9 in. (23 × 22.8 cm)
Overall (Closed): 11 15/16 × 9 5/8 × 13/16 in. (30.4 × 24.5 × 2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number2020.346.1-.11
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 208
On view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
To promote his invention of paper photography and demonstrate its utility, William Henry Fox Talbot produced The Pencil of Nature, the first commercially published book illustrated with photographs. Its photographs and texts demonstrated and described a wide array of applications for the new medium with extraordinary prescience: representing architecture; inventorying a collection of glass or china; reproducing rare manuscripts or artworks; accurately recording botanical specimens; portraying people; and creating works of art in their own right.
ProvenanceParts 1, 3, and 4 given by Lady Elizabeth Fielding (mother of William Henry Fox Talbot) to Rev. Jermyn Pratt, of Ryston Hall, Downham, Norfolk, England; by descent to his son, Edward Roger Murray Pratt (1847-1921); with Francis Edwards, London, 1966 (his catalogue 895); George Rinhart, Patterson, North Carolina; purchased by Miller-Plummer Collection of Photography [Harvey S. Shipley Miller and J. Randall Plummer, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania]; [sold at Christies, NY, October 8, 2009, lot 552]; [purchased by Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2020.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in ink, flyleaf: E.R. Pratt Rebound 1898
Stamped lettering in gilt on spine: Sun Pictures, H Fox Talbot, 1844
Stamped lettering in gilt on spine: Sun Pictures, H Fox Talbot, 1844
Catalogue raisonnéSchaaf census, no. 51. Individual plates [in order] are Schaaf nos. 1461, 128, 68, 69, 190, 1574, 2771, 74, 312, 3664, 913.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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William Henry Fox Talbot
before May 1845
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.8
William Henry Fox Talbot
August 9, 1842
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.5
William Henry Fox Talbot
April 9, 1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.6
William Henry Fox Talbot
1843–1844
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.3
William Henry Fox Talbot
1843–1844
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.1
William Henry Fox Talbot
May 1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.2
William Henry Fox Talbot
before September 1844
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.11
William Henry Fox Talbot
before June 1845
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.9
William Henry Fox Talbot
August 9, 1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.10
William Henry Fox Talbot
June 14, 1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.694
Parent/Child