1. Aglio. 2. Cestro. 3. Poa.

William Henry Fox Talbot, a pioneering English scientist and inventor, created "1. Aglio. 2. Cestro. 3. Poa." in 1839 using his innovative salted paper print process. This work is a testament to his early experiments in photography, which he began in 1834, leading to the public announcement of his 'photogenic drawing' process in January 1839. This print, like many of his early botanical studies such as "Two Plant Specimens" or "Tussilago Farfara," demonstrates Talbot's fascination with using light to capture natural objects directly, allowing them to 'delineate themselves without the aid of the artist's pencil.' These early photograms, made by placing objects directly onto light-sensitive paper, reveal the foundational principles of photography before the development of camera negatives. The irregularly trimmed dimensions of this piece, 20.9 x 16.8 cm, reflect the experimental nature of these nascent photographic endeavors, where the focus was on the process itself and the miraculous ability to fix an image.