---
title: "Henry Fox Talbot"
chunk: 3/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fox_Talbot"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:07:21.239999+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Talbot was a friend and neighbour in Wiltshire of the famed Irish poet and writer Thomas Moore. Dated April 1844, Talbot made a calotype of Moore as a visitor standing with members of his own household.
The distinctive curls identify Talbot's half sister Henrietta Horatia Fielding standing to his left.  Eliza Frayland, the nursemaid at the far left, had come into the family's employ with the birth of Charles Henry Talbot in 1842.  Arranged in the front are Matilda Caroline (later Gilchrist-Clark, age 5); Ela Theresa (age 9);  Rosamond Constance Talbot (age 7).  The woman at the right is possibly Moore's wife Bessy.
Moore took an early interest in Talbot's photogenic drawings. Talbot, in turn, took images of Moore's hand-written poetry possibly for inclusion in facsimile in an edition of The Pencil of Nature.

== Spectroscopic and optical investigations ==

Talbot was one of the earliest researchers into the field of spectral analysis. He showed that the spectrum of each of the chemical elements was unique and that it was possible to identify the chemical elements from their spectra. Such analysis was to become important in examining the light from distant stars, and hence inferring their atomic composition. He also investigated the polarization of light using tourmaline crystals and iceland spar or calcite crystals, and pioneered the design and use of the polarizing microscope, now widely used by geologists for examining thin rock sections to identify minerals within them.

Talbot allowed free use of the calotype process for scientific applications, and he himself published the first known photomicrograph of a mineral crystal. Another photomicrograph shows insect wings as seen in the "solar microscope" he and others developed for projecting images onto a large screen of tiny objects using sunlight as a light source. The large projections could then be photographed by exposure to sensitized paper. He studied the diffraction of light using gratings and discovered a new phenomenon, now known as the Talbot effect.
Talbot was very keen on applying the calotype method to recording natural phenomena, such as plants for example, as well as buildings and landscapes. The calotype technique was offered free by Talbot for scientific and amateur use. He was aware that the visible spectrum comprised a very small part of what we now know as electromagnetic radiation, and that powerful and invisible light beyond the violet was capable of inducing chemical effects, a type of radiation we now call ultra-violet radiation.

== Other activities ==

Talbot 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 High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1840.
While engaged in his scientific researches, Talbot devoted much time to archaeology. He had a 20-year involvement in the field of Assyriology, the study of the history, archaeology and culture of Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). With Henry Rawlinson and Edward Hincks he shares the honour of having been one of the first decipherers of the cuneiform inscriptions of Nineveh.  He published Hermes, or Classical and Antiquarian Researches (1838–39), and Illustrations of the Antiquity of the Book of Genesis (1839). He was also the author of English Etymologies (1846).

== Selected works ==
Hermes, or Classical and Antiquarian Researches (1838–39)
Illustrations of the Antiquity of the Book of Genesis (1839)
The Pencil of Nature (1844–46)
Sun pictures in Scotland (1845)
Loch Katrine (c. 1845) Salt print from calotype negative | 8x9 in. Birmingham Museum of Art
English Etymologies (1846)

== Posthumous recognition ==
In 1966 Talbot was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.

== Notes ==

== Bibliography ==
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Talbot, William Henry Fox". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 368.
"Talbot, William Henry Fox" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
Andrews, Martin (2014). Fox Talbot and the Reading Establishment. Reading: Two Rivers. ISBN 978-1-901677-98-0.
Booth, Arthur H. (1965). William Henry Fox Talbot: father of photography. London: Arthur Barker.
Brusius, Mirjam; Dean, Katrina; Ramalingam, Chitra, eds. (2013). William Henry Fox Talbot: beyond photography. New Haven: Yale Center for British Art. ISBN 978-0-300-17934-7.
Maimon, Vered (2015). Singular Images, Failed Copies: William Henry Fox Talbot and the Early Photograph. Minneapolis: Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-9471-6.
Schaaf, Larry J. (2000). The Photographic Art of William Henry Fox Talbot. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-05000-7.
Schaaf, Larry J. (2004). "Talbot, William Henry Fox (1800–1877)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26946. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
Stenton, Michael, ed. (1976). Who's Who of Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885. Hassocks: Harvester Press. ISBN 0-391-00613-4.
Watson, Roger; Rappaport, Helen (2013). Capturing the Light. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4472-1258-4.

== External links ==
 Media related to Henry Fox Talbot at Wikimedia Commons
Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Fox Talbot
Fox Talbot Museum
The correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot
`Talbot' vs. `Fox Talbot'
The Calotype Patent Lawsuit of Talbot v. Laroche, 1854, by R. D. Wood
Talbot and Photogenic Drawing
Talbot materials in the Digital Collections of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass.
"William Henry Fox Talbot's Open Door: Picture of the day", The Guardian, 10 December 2012
O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Henry Fox Talbot", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
Works by Henry Fox Talbot at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Henry Fox Talbot at the Internet Archive
Works by Henry Fox Talbot at Open Library
The William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné: online exhibit created by the Bodleian Library