No. 163 of 248 · The Natural History Series
Gulf Weed
Pictures by Anna Atkins
A spray of gulf weed glows white against deep cyanotype blue in this print by Anna Atkins, its tiny air bladders caught like pearls. Atkins laid each seaweed on light-sensitive paper in the sun, and her book of British algae became the first ever illustrated with photographs. For someone who loves the sea and the quiet beauty of nature.
Add four of your own photos and your own words; we print the card in the US and post it for you.
On the back
From the first book ever illustrated with photographs / GULF WEED / Sargassum bacciferum / Gulf weed floats in great rafts on the Atlantic, held up by small berry-like bladders of air; the Sargasso Sea is named after it. / Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, 1843-53 / Anna Atkins laid each seaweed on light-sensitive paper in the sun, making the first book ever illustrated with photographs.
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