Investigating William Henry Fox Talbot’s Experiments in Photomechanical Printing

This thesis investigates William Henry Fox Talbot’s experiments in photomechanical printing between 1838 and 1859. Despite Talbot’s prominence in photographic history as the British inventor of photography, his two patented photomechanical processes—the photographic engraving (1852) and the photoglyphic engraving (1858)—have been marginalised from the narrative surrounding his persona. Historians considered them as technological and commercial failures, challenging due to the extensive array of materials involved and the interdisciplinary nature of the research, which straddled the realms of photography, printmaking, and science. Employing photographic history as historiography and recent scholarship from the history of science, this thesis shows how Talbot’s photomechanical work serves as a crucial locus to explore his idea of photography and its evolution through the use of different materials. Challenging prevailing assumptions that separate photomechanical processes from Talbot’s photographic work, this thesis unveils their inherent interplay, focusing on the practical and tacit knowledge involved. Drawing from materials at the National Science and Media Museum and other collections, this study analyses prints, printing plates, experimental notes, and ephemera as tangible traces of Talbot’s hands-on efforts to combine photographic halftones and the material performance of ink prints. It reconstructs a narrative that does not highlight successful outcomes but pauses on the process of experimentation and its pivotal role in shaping Talbot's idea of photography as a printing technology. The chapters address four individual yet complementary case studies: the creation of the “photographic veil,” Talbot’s experimentation with metal plates, the role of “practical hands” (printers and engravers), and the application of photoglyphic engravings as periodical illustrations. The focus is on how materials pattern knowledge and on often overlooked but crucial contributors, such as printers, engravers, and editors, who played vital roles in developing and applying Talbot’s processes. The thesis repositions Talbot’s photomechanical experiments within the broader spectrum of his photographic and scientific inquiry. It provides the first in-depth mapping of his photomechanical practice and offers new materials and perspectives to revise prior histories concerning his photochemical work.