The making of Sun Pictures in Scotland : influences and themes in Talbot's second photographic book

William Henry Fox Talbot, an amateur scientist known for his invention of the calotype process, published two photographic books in his lifetime. The first, The Pencil of Nature, has received a lot of scholarly attention while Sun Pictures in Scotland, his second, has been largely ignored. There is little to account for this oversight, yet Sun Pictures has hardly registered in academic discourse. This thesis is primarily aimed at describing the contents of Sun Pictures in Scotland, but also considers the subjects photographed in light of the numerous biographical resources published on the character and artistic personality of Talbot. It is apparent Talbot had an artistic purpose in undertaking Sun Pictures in Scotland. He photographed subjects that reflected his own interpretation of the popular picturesque style, and he attempted to assemble his book in a manner that resembled the current fashion in art book production.