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Lot Essay
UNRECORDED PART ONE OF THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPHICALLY ILLUSTRATED BOOK TO BE COMMERCIALLY PUBLISHED1
William Henry Fox Talbot's seminal publication The Pencil of Nature was printed at Nicolaas Henneman's Reading Establishment in six parts between 1844 and 1846 and was available for purchase through booksellers. This copy of the first fascicle includes the following plates:
I. Part of Queen's College, Oxford, 4 September 1843 - This is the original plate by Talbot. The negatives for this plate and plate V became unusable sometime before 1846 and late issues may include one or both of the replacement plates.
II. View of the Boulevards at Paris, May 1843
III. Articles of China, before January 1844
IV. Articles of Glass, before June 1844
V. Bust of Patroclus, c.1846 - This is a much larger replacement plate.
1 L.J. Schaaf, "The Pencil of Nature, A Revised Census of the Original Copies", History of Photography, Vol.17, No.4, Winter 1993.
Christie's Photographs extend our sincere thanks to Larry J. Schaaf for his invaluable expertise and advice regarding this and all subsequent lots relating to Talbot and his circle.
William Henry Fox Talbot's seminal publication The Pencil of Nature was printed at Nicolaas Henneman's Reading Establishment in six parts between 1844 and 1846 and was available for purchase through booksellers. This copy of the first fascicle includes the following plates:
I. Part of Queen's College, Oxford, 4 September 1843 - This is the original plate by Talbot. The negatives for this plate and plate V became unusable sometime before 1846 and late issues may include one or both of the replacement plates.
II. View of the Boulevards at Paris, May 1843
III. Articles of China, before January 1844
IV. Articles of Glass, before June 1844
V. Bust of Patroclus, c.1846 - This is a much larger replacement plate.
Christie's Photographs extend our sincere thanks to Larry J. Schaaf for his invaluable expertise and advice regarding this and all subsequent lots relating to Talbot and his circle.