TALBOT4315

Dear Sir,

I regret to say that I have entirely failed in your Calotype process, ¹ and so have two of my friends Major Playfair ² & D^r Adamson ³ to whom I communicated it.

Our Prof^r of Chemistry M^r Connell ⁴ assisted Major Playfair and me in our first attempts; Our materials were purely, and carefully washed and applied, but we could get nothing like a good picture.

Major Playfair has since tried it repeatedly and patiently by himself, & has drawn up the enclosed note of what he did,⁵ which I send you with a specimen of the paper so prepared by the first part of the process. D^r Adamson who is a good Chemist, & successful with the Daguerreotype has also failed, and says that the Paper when ready for the Camera became black in the dark.

We tried the specimen of Paper your previously sent me, but not with any better success. Does any thing depend on the strength of the acetic acid? We used at one time crystallised nitrate of silver & at another time Lunar Caustic. ⁶

The Iodide of Potassium & Gallic Acid were prepared by Dimond & by Holborn, and were doubtless pure. You will oblige me greatly if you could send me a specimen of a Negative Picture and of the Positive one taken from it.

If you can help us out of these difficulties we shall follow minutely your instructions.

I am Dear Sir, Ever Most Truly y^rs
D Brewster

S^t Leonard’s
S^t Andrews
July 26^th 1841

H. Fox Talbot Esq^r