Cover and Text from "The Pencil of Nature," London, 1844
Medium
Paper cover and unbound pages of text (approximately 12,000 words) without illustrations
Dimensions
Paper: 30.5 × 24 cm (12 1/16 × 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
ink on paper
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
39031
About the Artist
William Henry Fox Talbot · 1800–1877
William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877), a British polymath whose ingenuity transformed visual representation, was born on 11 February 1800 at Melbury House, Dorset, the only child of William Davenport Talbot of Lacock Abbey and Lady Elisabeth Fox Strangways, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Ilchester. His father died shortly after his birth, leaving the family in financial straits until his formidable mo...