Specimens and Marvels:
The World of William Henry Fox Talbot

Published to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Britain's celebrated inventor of photography, Specimens and Marvels illuminates the mid-nineteenth-century cultural environment in which Talbot's vision for photography emerged--a vision that would permanently alter how human beings view themselves and the world.

This unprecedented publication focuses on Talbot's ambitions for the mystical blend of science and art he termed "photogenic drawing" (later called "photography"), as outlined in his classic The Pencil of Nature.

In addition to some of the familiar icons from photography's beginnings, such as Talbot's cameraless photograms of plant forms and lace, many unseen and little-known experiments with calotypes will be featured in this invaluable new volume on the life and work of William Henry Fox Talbot.

Lively and insightful texts offer new critical perspectives on Talbot's significance in the history of image-making, the illustrated book, and the history of ideas. The book is published in association with the National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television (NMPFT), in Bradford, England, home of the largest collection of Talbot material in the world.