The Pencil of Nature

[5][6] To avoid confusion, Talbot inserted the following notice into the book: The plates of the present work are impressed by the agency of Light alone, without any aid whatever from the artist's pencil.

They are the sun-pictures themselves, and not, as some persons have imagined, engravings in imitation.The cover page of The Pencil of Nature eclectically clashed the Baroque, Celtic, and Medieval styles, as was characteristic of the Victorian era.

Due to the long exposure times required in early photography, however, Talbot only included one image depicting people, The Ladder (Plate XIV).

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.")