William Henry Fox Talbot (February 11, 1800 – September 17, 1877) was the inventor of the negative/positive photographic process, the precursor to most photographic processes of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was also a noted photographer who made major contributions to the development of photography as an artistic medium. His work in the 1850s, on photo-mechanical reproduction led to the creation of the photoglyphic engraving process, the precursor to photogravure. He is, however, also remembered as the holder of a patent which, some say, affected the early development of commercial photography in England. Talbot also made some important early photographs of Oxford, Paris and York - see "Nathaniel Whittock's bird's-eye view of the City of York in the 1850's" by Hugh Murray.