A scene in a library

Edwards, S. (2002). A scene in a library. History of Photography, 26(2) pp. 113–118.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03087298.2002.10443284

Abstract

In the introduction to The Pencil of Nature Talbot recounts the events that led to his discovery of photography. In 1833, he claims, he found amusement ‘on the lovely shores of the Lake Como, in Italy, taking sketches with Wollaston's Camera Lucida, or rather I should say, attempting to take them: but with the smallest possible amount of success. For when the eye was removed from the prism — in which all looked beautiful — I found the faithless pencil had only left traces melancholy to behold’.1 This is a story of frustration. The problem with the camera lucida, as far as Talbot was concerned, was that its successful use depended on the possession of basic drawing skills. As a consequence, his thoughts turned to the camera obscura that he had tried to use on a previous occasion. He found this apparatus was also difficult to manage because ‘the pressure of the hand and pencil’ shook the instrument. Even using this mechanical device, Talbot believed the amateur was unable to copy details, and so only ‘a mere souvenir of the scene’ could be had. Dismayed by the transitory nature of this ‘image’, he began to contemplate other ways ‘to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably, and remain fixed upon the paped’. This story is well known to historians of photography.

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