TALBOT4098

Collingwood ¹
June 19/40

My dear Sir

I am very much obliged indeed by your very very beautiful Photographs.– It is quite delightful to see the art grow under your hands in this way. Had you suddenly a twelvemonth ago been shewn them, how you would have jumped & clapped hands (ie. if you ever do such a thing).

That which pleased me most is I think (for it is difficult to chuse) the garden scene with trees & trellis. ² It is so very unlike any drawing– and then, the difficulty of doing foliage at all.– Then the corner of a sunny wall with garden tools.– How admirably the broom shews – & the shine of the spade. ³ As a drawing the old back-front of Lacock Abbey with the pile of wood ⁴ strikes me as very finished.

I shall be very glad of any of your remarks on my paper. ⁵ – There is nothing I regret more than the loss of this unique season for prosecuting the subject of the thermographs. I may mention however that in one very imperfect ext^t on Rock-salt, I saw reason to believe that Melloni’s con-clusions as to the perfect transcalescence of that medium requires revision – and as I have now got some fine crystals of it I hope ere the season goes quite by to be able to try these expt^s better.

Belie

I must observe that the last spec^ns you sent me have changed by keeping. One in particular that which seemed to me the best – the reflexion of your Abbey in the river has been altered partially thus

A retains its pristine tints [illustration]

B (by the mere superposⁿ of a piece of some paper whose form does not correspond to that of any other of the pictures (tho’ I laid them all together) has grown very much lighter, marked by a sharp outline – with this effect as originating in a paper in esse ⁶ superposed – I am familiar but the case in question seems to refer to a paper in fuisse or in posse. ⁷

Believe me my dear sir Yours truly
JFW Herschel

PS as your London address is unknown to me I address this to Lacock to be forwarded. This may savor to you of a man dropping out of the current of the world’s knowledge but I hope will be excused.