TALBOT6602

R. Hunt Esq

Lacock
30 April/52

D^r Sir

You me give me good news in saying that some parties have at length resolved to infringe my patents openly viz. for purposes of trade. ¹

This will give me the opportunity of obtaining the decision of a Court of Law, & of showing to the world that I claim no more than I have a right to claim under the existing patent laws –

Should it prove on the other hand that I have been misled by my legal advisors (whose advice I have always followed) I shall submit most readily to the judgment of the Court – You cannot think how glad I shall be to have the question of my rights finally settled by a competent tribunal –

I have not seen the Athenaeum for some weeks & consequently have not read the article you mention. ² I will send for it, as I suppose by your mentioning it, it is of importance. – I am surprised to hear that an unfriendly notice has appeared in that journal respecting your Photography. ³ I thought you were on the best terms with the Editor, which though not excluding fair and free comment, ought surely to exclude anything written in an unfriendly spirit –

I am informed the Patent Law is as follows, for example with respect to the Collodion process.

If it had been patented, I could not have used it, nor the person who patented it, without my consent – so that a mutual contract would have been requisite.

D^r Sir Yours very truly
H. F. Talbot