Note 311 — Chapter XVIII · Friends of Boulton and Watt—The Lunar Society.

Mr. W. P. Smith, of the Patent Museum, raised this question at a meeting of the Photographic Society held on the 3rd November, 1863. Certain photographic pictures on metal plates were found in Mr. Boulton’s library at Soho, which, it was supposed, had not been opened for about fifty years: and it was accordingly inferred that these photographs had been the work of Mr. Boulton, or some member of the Lunar Society, about the year 1791. One of them was supposed to be a view of Soho House “before the alterations, which were made previous to 1791.” But the evidence is very defective, as has been clearly shown by M. P. W. Boulton, Esq., the grandson of Mr. Boulton, in his ‘Remarks concerning certain Photographs supposed to be of early Date’ (Bradbury and Evans, 1864). Instead of having been closed for fifty years, the room in which the pictures were found, was in constant use, and the books were freely accessible. It is also very doubtful whether the house represented in one of the pictures is old Soho House; the strong probability being that it is not, but a house still standing at Winson Green. The explanation given by Mr. M. P. W. Boulton seems to be the true one—that the room in question having been used by a Miss Wilkinson, an experimenter in photography after its invention by Niepce, these photographs were merely the results of her first amateur experiments in the art. The late Mr. Murdock, son of William Murdock of Soho, who lived in the immediate neighbourhood, was also a very good photographist, and was accustomed to meet Miss Wilkinson to make experiments in the new art.

There can be no doubt that the Wedgwoods of Etruria, more particularly Josiah’s son Thomas, as well as Humphry Davy, were early engaged in experimenting on the action of light upon nitrate of silver, but they wholly failed in fixing the pictures. A letter, dated “January, 1799,” is quoted in the ‘Photographic Journal’ for Jan. 15, 1864, as from James Watt to Josiah Wedgwood (which must be an error, as Josiah died in 1795), in which the following words occur:—“I thank you for your instructions respecting the silver pictures, about which, when at home, I will make some experiments.” If such experiments were really made, we have been unable to find any record of them.