British seaweed (1843-1853) by Anna Atkins is considered the first book illustrated using photographic images. The English botanist (1799-1871) made her collection using the cyanotype technique, which she learned about through her father’s friendship with its inventor, John Herschel. Later this month, Taschen publishes a facsimile of British seaweed alongside Atkins’ other book, British and foreign fern cyanotypes (1853). Below is an excerpt from an accompanying essay by Peter Walther, detailing Atkins’ development of the book.
Anna Atkins herself had collected and dried most of the plants included in British seaweed. Upon harvest, the seaweed was immediately rinsed with water, then taken home where she used dissecting forceps and camel hair brushes to remove foreign matter, before squeezing and removing it. to dry. Since the backs of many Atkins pictures are a pale blue color, it can be assumed that she did not always sensitize the paper with a brush or sponge. Instead, she immersed him in chemical solutions. To create a cyanotype, Atkins placed the plants on the suitably prepared paper placed in a copy frame, which she then covered with a glass plate to ensure the closest possible contact with the supporting surface. The result was a richly detailed outline image. Areas only partially permeable to light appeared brighter in the image than those fully exposed, while denser algae was less distinctly visible.
Next to the specimen, a label indicating the name of the plant has been affixed to the paper. The label showing the name of the plant was first dipped in oil to make it transparent, so that when exposed to light, only the writing remained.
Depending on the weather and the intensity of the sun the copy frames were left […] between five and 15 minutes. After a while, the paper took on a yellowish-green color which, after rinsing the sheets with water, turned to a more or less intense blue.
Delesseria sinuosa from Atkins British Seaweed Part V (1845) © TASCHEN / New York Public Library
Anna Atkins gave her cyanotypes serial numbers. Even when she examined the plant several times, there were noticeable differences between specimens belonging to the same series. Before each exposure, the algae were rearranged on the prepared paper. Sometimes they appeared upside down in the image, but other times they appeared to have moved only a short distance. The intensity of the blue varied from species to species. October 1843 saw the publication of around 15 copies of the first volume of British seaweed, which she dedicated to her father. In a foreword, Atkins reflected on why she produced the book. “The difficulty of making precise drawings, so minute as many Algae and Confervae, prompted me to avail myself of Sir John Herschel’s beautiful process of Cyanotype, for obtaining impressions of the plants themselves, which I have a lot of fun giving to my botanical friends.
Early editions of the album were sent to the Royal Society, Herschel, [Henry Fox] Talbot, mineralogy and photo pioneer Robert Hunt, and book collector Thomas Phillips. The British Museum, the Linnean Society of London and the Botanic Gardens of London and Edinburgh were also honoured. […] In the years that followed until the spring of 1849, a total of ten volumes, each containing twelve engravings, [were sewn] together by hand. The recipients were responsible for collecting and linking the sections together.
• Anna Atkins: cyanotypesPeter Walther, Taschen, 660pp, £100 (hb)
