Lacock Abbey, Chippenham
22 March/43
Dear Sir
Your account of the Comet, in yesterday’s globe, 1 is very interesting; here unfortunately we were not on the look out, & therefore saw nothing of it.
The puts me in mind that about this time of year in 1817, I saw one evening after sunset a magnificent cometary appearance in the West, which I explained to my own satisfaction as being the “Zodiacal light” described by astronomers. But I have never seen the zodiacal light since; & if there be such a thing, I cannot understand why it did not appear in all its lustre during the total eclipse of the sun last summer. No comet was observed by astronomers at the time I have mentioned, nor [illegible deletion] for some time before & after. Do you think it was an anomalous meteor or the z. light? If I recollect, it was a narrow beam of light, & its direction produced passed thro’ the sun, as well as could be judged.
Mr Hunt is engaged in writing the History of Photography which Messrs Longman are going to publish. 2 He has laid it down as a rule, I understand, to verify all the facts himself; but that must be impossible. I have succeeded in giving absolute fixation to the pictures obtained by the single or direct positive process which was a desideratum – It now remains to obtain greater sensitiveness in the positive papers – They are at least 10 times slower than the negative ones; but that is not all, the process is more delicate & as you have several more variable quantities to deal with, it is more difficult to discover how the maximum effect is to be obtained. M. Bayard 3 at Paris whose efforts are directly solely to this point, does not seem to have succeeded. I think I shall shortly visit France & see how they are getting on there in matters of science. <4>
I have to thank you, some time ago, for an interesting translation from the German, 4 & in a very difficult metre – I see you sometimes desert Urania, 5 to become the votary of her sister Muses.
Believe me to remain Yours very truly
H. F. Talbot
Sir J. Herschel Bart
Collingwood
Hawkhurst Kent
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