S3381-001

View of the Suspension Bridge at Rouen through the masts of merchant ships Long Caption: A waxed paper calotype negative (yellowed). An elevated view, possibly taken from Talbot's hotel window, looking through the masts of five merchant ships towards the first span of the Suspension Bridge. The merchant ships are all secured to the quayside in the foreground at an angle by their starboard bows rather than bows-to or broadside-to. In a letter to his mother dated 15 May 1843 he writes: 'I drove to the Hotel l’Angleterre on the quai. A new suspension bridge crosses the river before my windows.' In the letter dated 15 May 1843 from WHF Talbot to his mother, he was in Rouen on 15 May 1843 and planned to stay 2-3 days. [BL, LA43-57]. In fact, in another letter to his mother, dated 22 May, he mentioned that he had left on 18 May for Paris. [BL, LA43-58]. Credit line: © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Fox Talbot Collection Object: P32CAL Artist: William Henry Fox Talbot Date: 1843 Medium: calotype negative; paper; wax Size: 160 mm x 196 mm Click here to buy a bespoke print of this image.