Anna Atkins' Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Ferns - (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Explore this remarkable collection of botanical cyanotypes by Anna Atkins, the world's first female photographer, in a stunning celebration of early photography and the natural world.

First published in 1853, this unique volume is an immersive showcase of Anna Atkins' botanical prints. The delicate cyanotypes featured in these pages are some of history's first photographs, capturing British and foreign ferns in deep Prussian blues and vibrant whites. Discover exquisitely detailed blueprints of over 100 fern specimens and explore the original artwork of one of the most overlooked women in science.

A pioneer in her field, Anna Atkins (1799-1871), was the first to publish a book featuring photographs, a landmark feat in both scientific illustration and the world of publishing. In this new edition of Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Ferns, each image has been faithfully reproduced in a dazzling tribute to the intersection where art meets science.

Review Quotes

"If the photograph in its early and imperfect scientific state was more consonant to our feelings for art, it is because... it was more true to our experience of Nature. Mere broad light and shade, with the correctness of general forms and absence of all convention, which are the beautiful conditions of photography... give artistic pleasure of a very high kind."-Lady Elizabeth Eastlake, 1857

"The difficulty of making accurate drawings of objects so minute... has induced me to avail myself of Sir John Herschel's beautiful proofs of cyanotype, to obtain impressions of the plants themselves, which I have much pleasure in offering to my botanical friends."-Anna Atkins, 1843