The Pencil of Nature is an 1844 book by William Henry Fox Talbot. It is notable for being the first commercially published book to be illustrated with photographs.Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department. Book of the month. February 2007. William Henry Fox Talbot. The Pencil of Nature. Retrieved 6 October 2008.William Henry Fox Talbot: The Pencil of Nature (1994.197). In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2006. Retrieved 6 October 2008.

Published by Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans in six fascicles between 1844 and 1846, the book detailed Talbot's development of the calotype photographic process and included 24 calotype prints, each one pasted in by hand, illustrating some of the possible applications of the new technology. It is regarded as an important and influential work in the history of photography and was described by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as "a milestone in the art of the book greater than any since Gutenberg's invention of moveable type."

At the time of The Pencil of Nature's publication, photography was still an unfamiliar concept for most people—The Athenaeum, a contemporary British magazine, described Talbot's work as "modern necromancy"—and the book was the first opportunity for the general public to see what photographs looked like. To avoid confusion, Talbot inserted the following notice into the book:

The cover page of The Pencil of Nature eclectically clashed the Baroque, Celtic, and Medieval styles, as was characteristic of the Victorian era.Meggs, Philip B., Purvis, Alston W. "Graphic Design and the Industrial Revolution" History of Graphic Design. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2006. p.152-153. Its symmetrical design, letterforms, and intricate carpet pages are similar to and a pastiche of the Book of Kells.

The Pencil of Nature was published and sold one section at a time, without any binding. As with many books of the time, purchasers were expected to have it bound themselves once all the installments had been released. Talbot planned a large number of installments; however, the book was not a commercial success and he was forced to terminate the project after completing only six.

Photographs

The 24 plates in the book were carefully selected to demonstrate a wide variety of potential applications for photography. They include a variety of architectural studies, scenes, still lifes, and closeups, as well as facsimiles of prints, sketches, and text. Due to the long exposure times required in early photography, however, Talbot only included one image depicting people, The Ladder (Plate XIV). Talbot also sought to demonstrate photography's potential as a new artistic medium with images like The Open Door (Plate VI).

The complete list of plates is as follows: Part 1 I. Part of Queen's College, Oxford II. View of the Boulevards at Paris III. Articles of China IV. Articles of Glass V. Bust of Patroclus Part 2 VI. The Open Door VII. Leaf of a Plant VIII. A Scene in a Library IX. Fac-simile of an Old Printed Page X. The Haystack XI. Copy of a Lithographic Print XII. The Bridge of Orléans Part 3 XIII. Queen's College, Oxford: Entrance Gateway XIV. The Ladder XV. Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire Part 4 XVI. Cloisters of Lacock Abbey XVII. Bust of Patroclus XVIII. Gate of Christchurch Part 5 XIX. The Tower of Lacock Abbey XX. Lace XXI. The Martyrs' Monument Part 6 XXII. Westminster Abbey XXIII. Hagar in the Desert XXIV. A Fruit Piece

Text

Each plate is accompanied by a short text which describes the scene and the photographic processes involved in obtaining it. Talbot emphasized the practical implications of his images (for instance, "The whole cabinet of a Virtuoso and collector of old China might be depicted on paper in little more time than it would take him to make a written inventory describing it in the usual way."), but he also recognized their artistic value ("The chief object of the present work is to place on record some of the early beginnings of a new art, before the period, which we trust is approaching, of its being brought to maturity by the aid of British talent.")

Given the novelty of the subject, Talbot pointed out in the text certain technical aspects that would be obvious to a current reader; for instance: "Groups of figures take no longer time to obtain than single figures would require, since the Camera depicts them all at once, however numerous they may be." He also speculated about such questions as (among others) whether photographs would stand up as evidence in court and whether a camera could be made to record ultraviolet light."

At the beginning of the book, Talbot included an incomplete history of his development of the calotype, titled "Brief Historical Sketch of the Invention of the Art." The history ends rather abruptly, and though Talbot expressed his intention to complete it at a later date, he never did."

Editions About 40 "substantially complete" copies of the original 1844–1846 edition still exist. At least two facsimile editions have been issued: New York: Da Capo Press, 1969. New York: Hans P. Kraus Jr., 1989. Bath: Monmouth Calotype, 1989

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