Anna Atkins: Cyanotype Impressions

Anna Atkins was an amateur botanist especially interested in scientific illustration and taxonomy. Photographs of British Algae is a landmark in the histories both of photography and of publishing: the first photographic work by a woman and the first book produced entirely by photographic means. Instantly recognizable today as the blueprint process, the cyanotypes lend themselves beautifully to illustrate objects found in the sea. (NYPL)