The Bodleian has been awarded £1.2 million towards the cost of buying the personal archives of William Henry Fox Talbot.
The donation, given by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, accounts for about half of the cost of the £2.2 million archives. This means the Bodleian Libraries will need to raise a further £1 million independently to secure the collection. They have until the end of February to do so.
Talbot was a Victorian polymath most famous for his invention of photography. His intellectual curiosity and influence spanned many fields including Classics, Botany, Mathematics and Chemistry and he also sat briefly as a Liberal MP in the House of Commons.
His invention of negatives, which made possible multiple prints, was an essential component of photography right up until the digital age. Throughout his life, he published eight books and more than 100 journal articles and was granted 12 patents.
Carole Souter, Chief Executive of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, said, “This collection offers fascinating new insights into Fox Talbot’s family life, particularly the wonderful contribution made by the women of his family; this is why the Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund felt it was so important that the archive should be secured for future generations to explore.”
Richard Ovenden, Deputy Librarian of the Bodleian Libraries, agreed, commenting, “The Bodleian is anxious to ensure that the collection is made available to scholars and to the general public.”
The archive is the only significant Talbot collection remaining in private hands and contains objects and writings both personal and academic. Included are family diaries, correspondence, botanical specimens and photographic images made and received by Talbot. Many objects in the collection are significant for being the earliest examples of their kind, including some of the first ever photographs of Oxford; while an image made by his wife, which may be the earliest photographic image made by a woman.
Also included is art which Talbot photographed for The Pencil of Nature: again, the first book to be illustrated with photographs.
The collection is expected to give a fuller understanding of Talbot’s scholarly activities, especially the influences from the women in his family. His relatives shared many of his interests and also practised and collected the burgeoning art of photography. Artefacts relating to the Lacock Estate that Talbot managed will shed light on a different aspect of his life.
Many well known figures in various fields have lent their support to the Bodleian’s fundraising efforts to acquire the archive. Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, said, “The heritage of brilliant scientists and innovators like Talbot (who was a Fellow of the Royal Soci- ety) is of great importance.”
Professor Martin Kemp, former Professor of Art History at Oxford, commented, “It is astonishing that [the archive] has not passed into public hands already…What is apparent from the list of materials in the archive is that it goes far beyond standard kinds of documentation, embracing, as is does through its objects and instruments, the whole material and intellectual history of Talbot’s invention.”
He also added “I should be thrilled if the Bodleian becomes its home, knowing that it will be properly conserved, curated, made available and exhibited (as appropriate).”
A series of public events is planned to support access to the archive, including a major exhibition in 2017. Highlights from the archive will also feature in the opening exhibition for the Weston Library, and in a number of smaller displays.
