William Henry Fox Talbot was the founder of modern photography and a key intellectual figure of his time, working in fields as diverse as botany, physics, mathematics, archaeology and literature. This book provides an extraordinary view into the origins of photography - returning to the moment when photography was invented and taking us on a visual journey through Talbot"s experiments, frustrations and successes as he perfected his craft and amazed his friends and colleagues. Talbot experimented with photography throughout his life, making pioneering images of his home, Lacock Abbey, portraits of family and friends, and still lifes of plant specimens, pieces of lace, and many other objects of the time. In addition to covering his entire career, the images selected reflect the care and wonder of their inventor and revive the beauty and mystery of the photographs themselves.