Goodbye 2016 – Welcome 2017

30 Dec 2016: It seemed appropriate as 2016 is drawing to a close to borrow from Henry’s favourite satirist, John Doyle. For many of us the past year has been “A Curious Figure That Kicks All Manner of Ways!” indeed. Surely 2017 is bound to be better and the staff of the Catalogue wish you the very best …

Peaceful wishes from Henry

23 Dec 2016: The Angel Harp in Lacock Abbey may this holiday season bring peace to your heart & tranquility to all the earth Larry J Schaaf • Questions or Comments? Please contact digitalsupport@bodleian.ox.ac.uk • WHFT, The crown of the 1810 Erard Harp in Lacock Abbey, salt print from a calotype negative, ca. 1841, National Media Museum, Bradford, …

A Delicate Holiday Treat

16 Dec 2016: Out of respect to busy schedules during this festive season, we are returning to our tradition of pleasantly brief Holiday Treats LJS Guest post by Brian Liddy As a native of what was once called North Britain and currently resident in blistery Oxford, I like to wrap up warmly at this time of year. But …

The Reading Establishment’s “Hidden mysteries”

9 Dec 2016: In this wonderfully descriptive tableaux vivant, we have an early virtual reality presentation of Nicolaas Henneman’s photographic establishment in the market town of Reading, about halfway between Lacock Abbey and London. Possessed with a courageous if overly optimistic faith in Talbot’s new discovery, Henneman had taken the highly unusual risky step of separating from his …

Miscellanea Photogenica, No 1

2 Dec 2016: Some years ago a book of mine was inching its way towards actual publication. Coming up with titles is always a devilish process, but drawing inspiration from one of Talbot’s packet annotations, Miscellanea Photogenica (with a subtitle) struck me as the perfect choice. Alas, the workhorses in the marketing department were frightened by this use …