"William Henry Fox Talbot (Dorset, February 11, 1800 - Lacock, Wiltshire, September 17, 1877) was a British photographer, inventor, archaeologist, botanist, philosopher, philologist, mathematician, and politician. He was a member of the English Parliament.

Creator of the calotype process (which had been preceded by his photogenic drawings), which he patented in 1842, he was one of the pioneers of photography. Talbot also owes the publication of the first illustrated book with photos of history. Entitled The Pencil of Nature, 1844, it turns out to be a biography of its author written to present his invention (the Calotype). The photos it includes are glued to the pages of the book. "