Calothrix distorta
Date
1843-1853
Creator
Anna Atkins (1799 - 1871, British) , Botanist
Object type
Library reference
RCN9352
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 250mm
width (print): 195mm
width (print): 195mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Botanical study of marine algae Calothrix distorta, depicting a single specimen with densely formed branches and filamentous tufts.
Captioned below ‘Calothrix distorta’ in a photographic facsimile of the author’s handwriting.
Blueprint from Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions, by Anna Atkins, volume III (London, 1843-1853).
Anna Atkins (1799-1871) was a British botanist, plant-collector and photographer.
Captioned below ‘Calothrix distorta’ in a photographic facsimile of the author’s handwriting.
Blueprint from Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions, by Anna Atkins, volume III (London, 1843-1853).
Anna Atkins (1799-1871) was a British botanist, plant-collector and photographer.
Object history
The original purpose of Anna Atkins’ Photographs of British Algae was to provide illustration for William Harvey’s FRS (1811-1866) A manual of British marine algae (1841). It was privately printed by Atkins and is considered the first scientific manual to be printed using photography to replace conventional means of illustration.
Photographs of British Algae was issued as a part book to various scientific institutions, and Atkins made fifteen part donations to the Royal Society between October 1843 and the end of 1853. The fifteenth donation is listed in the Philosophical Transactions presents register from November 1853-June 1854 as ‘Volume III’ (an internal note dates it to the latter months of 1853) and the Royal Society was instructed that the plates therein were to be combined with certain from the earlier twelve parts.
It was up to the Royal Society to bind the cyanotypes according to Atkins' instructions. The final result is a 3 volume series containing 425 plates, and an additional gathering of 7 plates, believed to have been sent in to the Society as replacements but never incorporated.
Photographs of British Algae was issued as a part book to various scientific institutions, and Atkins made fifteen part donations to the Royal Society between October 1843 and the end of 1853. The fifteenth donation is listed in the Philosophical Transactions presents register from November 1853-June 1854 as ‘Volume III’ (an internal note dates it to the latter months of 1853) and the Royal Society was instructed that the plates therein were to be combined with certain from the earlier twelve parts.
It was up to the Royal Society to bind the cyanotypes according to Atkins' instructions. The final result is a 3 volume series containing 425 plates, and an additional gathering of 7 plates, believed to have been sent in to the Society as replacements but never incorporated.
Associated place