Editing Henry Fox Talbot (section)

== Other activities ==
[[File:Fox Talbot grave.jpg|thumb|right|Talbot family grave in [[Lacock]] village cemetery<ref>{{cite book|last=Greenwood|first=Douglas|title=Who's buried where in England|edition=Third|year=1999|publisher=Constable|location=London|isbn=0094793107|pages=197–199|chapter=5: Scientists, Doctors, Businessmen, Engineers and Industrialists}}</ref>]]
Talbot was active in politics, being a moderate Reformer who generally supported the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] Ministers. He served as member of parliament for [[Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chippenham]] between 1832 and 1835 when he retired from parliament. He also held the office of [[High Sheriff of Wiltshire]] in 1840.

While engaged in his scientific researches, Talbot devoted much time to archaeology. He had a 20-year involvement in the field of [[Assyriology]], the study of the history, archaeology and culture of [[Mesopotamia]] (present-day [[Iraq]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2014/06/the-talented-mr-fox-talbot-part-4-assyriology.html|title=The talented Mr Fox Talbot Part 4 – Assyriology|website=blogs.bl.uk}}</ref> With [[Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet|Henry Rawlinson]] and [[Edward Hincks]] he shares the honour of having been one of the first decipherers of the [[cuneiform (script)|cuneiform]] inscriptions of [[Nineveh]].  He published ''Hermes, or Classical and Antiquarian Researches'' (1838–39), and ''Illustrations of the Antiquity of the [[Book of Genesis]]'' (1839). He was also the author of ''English Etymologies'' (1846).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
[[File:Talbot,_William_Henry_Fox_-_»Die_drei_Grazien«_(Zeno_Fotografie).jpg|thumb|Talbot, William Henry Fox – ''Die drei Grazien'' (Zeno Fotografie)]]