William Henry Fox Talbot

The Pencil of Nature (Annotated) William Henry Fox Talbot

Differentiated book- It has a historical context with research of the time-The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot. The purpose of realizing this historical context is to approach the understanding of a historical epoch from the elements provided by the text. Hence the importance of placing the document in context. It is necessary to unravel what its author or authors have said, how it has been said, when, why and where, always relating it to its historical moment. Talbot's 'picture book' is a manifesto for photography, a controversy, an advertisement, a commitment to posterity, a chronicle of the past and a vision of the future. The Pencil of Nature, published between June 1844 and April 1846, was the first commercially published book to be illustrated with photographs. As such, it is a milestone not only in the history of photography but in the way we view our world. Its importance to the history of photography has been compared in print. In fact, until recently, surviving full copies were thought to be rarer.