Henry Fox Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot
Daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet, c. 1844
Born	William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-02-11)11 February 1800 Melbury, Dorset, England
Died	17 September 1877(1877-09-17) (aged 77) Lacock, Wiltshire, England
Occupation(s)	Scientist and inventor
Known for	Pioneering photography
Spouse	Constance Talbot
Children	Ela (1835–1893) Rosamond (1837–1906) Matilda (1839–1927) Charles (1842–1916)
Parent(s)	William Davenport Talbot Elisabeth Fox Strangways
Awards	Royal Medal (1838) Rumford Medal (1842)

William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE FRAS (/ˈtɔːlbət/; 11 February 1800 – 17 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries. His work in the 1840s on photomechanical reproduction led to the creation of the photoglyphic engraving process, the precursor to photogravure. He was the holder of a controversial patent that affected the early development of commercial photography in Britain. He was also a noted photographer who contributed to the development of photography as an artistic medium. He published The Pencil of Nature (1844–1846), which was illustrated with original salted paper prints from his calotype negatives and made some important early photographs of Oxford, Paris, Reading, and York.^[1]

A polymath, Talbot was elected to the Royal Society in 1831 for his work on the integral calculus, and researched in optics, chemistry, electricity and other subjects such as etymology, the decipherment of cuneiform, and ancient history.