Sun Gardens: Victorian Photograms"Recognized as the earliest female photographer, Anna Atkins is equally remarkable for having produced the first book to use photographic illustrations. That book, [Photographs of] British algae : cyanotype impressions ... constitutes the first serious application of photography to scientific publication ... In 1841, Anna Atkins was inspired by advice from Fox Talbot, inventor of photography on paper, to take up the new art. By the autumn of 1843, she had mastered Sir John Herschel's 'beautiful process of cyanotype' (the blueprint process) and began issuing the first parts of her book, which documented her large collection of seaweed. While it was not uncommon for contemporary ladies to occupy their leisure time gathering and preserving botanical specimens, few were as dedicated or as creative as Mrs. Atkins. She inspired her friend Anne Dixon, a vicar's wife, to collaborate with her in creating the elegant cyanotype photograms of ferns, flowers, feathers, and lace which appear in this volume"--Book jacket. |
Contents
Preface | 7 |
A Great Fondness for Botany | 23 |
The Productions of Anna Atkins | 41 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
album Anna Atkins Anna's Anne Dixon artist Asplenium Atkins's Atmospheric Railway Bliss botanist British Algae British Museum British Museum Natural calotype catalogue Charles Piazzi Smyth chemical cyanotype cyanotype process Cyanotypes of British daughter Edinburgh father Ferns flowers Glasgow graphs of British Halstead Place Henry Collen Henry Dixon Henry Fox Talbot History of Photography Holding 15 Hooker Hullmandel Hunt's hypo illustration John Edward Davis John George Children John Pelly Atkins June Kelvingrove label Lacock Lang's later letter London mounted nature printing November original paper Paul Getty Museum Pencil of Nature Photo photogenic drawing photoglyphic engraving photogram photographic printing photographic process plants plates portrait potential of photography produced publication published records reproduced Royal Botanic Gardens Royal Society Herschel Schaaf Science scientific Seaweeds Sevenoaks sheet Sir John Herschel Smee Society Herschel Collection species specimens Thomas tions volumes watermarked William Henry Fox