HENRY FOX TALBOT’S COPY The History of Sandford and Merton

A gift to the photographic pioneer, Henry Fox Talbot, as a young boy with a presentation inscription from his naval step-father, Charles Feilding, probably written in the hand of his mother: ‘William Henry Fox Talbot given him by Mr. Feilding August 8th 1805’. Henry Fox Talbot later presented the book to his cousin Jane Harriot Nicholl (nee Talbot, 1796-1874) who has proudly added a superscript above the earlier inscription: ‘Jane Harriot Talbot given her by...’ which neatly runs onto the earlier inscription. Jane Talbot has added another ownership signature on the verso of the flyleaf and her childish inscription appears around the oval engraved frontispiece.

DESCRIPTION: This volume is in poor condition, contemporary half calf over marbled paper covered boards, rubbed and worn, untrimmed leaves: iv, 5-260pp., Lacking pp. 9-16, 23-24, 27-28 & 45-72.

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) lost his father when he was five months old, leaving the family estates in disarray; his remarkable mother remarried in 1804 and Charles Feilding was effectively Fox Talbot’s ‘real father’ (ODNB). This bookish gift seems intended to cement that new relationship, and given that the little boy was only five at the time, confirmation of him as a prodigious scholar in early childhood.

The books second owner, Jane Harriot Nicholl (1796 1874) was a Welsh cousin and frequent correspondent of the photographic pioneer; an interested observer of his work, providing feedback on early photographic techniques during the development of photography in the 1830s and 1840s.