Research Catalog

Title

Sun gardens : cyanotypes by Anna Atkins / [text by] Larry J. Schaaf ; edited by Joshua Chuang ; with contributions by Joshua Chuang, Emily Walz and Mike Ware.

Author

Atkins, Anna, 1799-1871

Publication

• New York, NY : The New York Public Library, 2018.
• Munich ; London ; New York : Distributed by Delmonico Books/Prestel
• [East Greenwich, RI] : Meridian Printing

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Schaaf, Larry J. (Larry John), 1947-
• Dixon, Anne, 1799-1864
• Chuang, Joshua
• Walz, Emily
• Ware, Mike

Description

215 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), facsimiles; 32 cm

Summary

"Anna Atkins (1799-1871) came of age in Victorian England, a particularly fertile environment for learning and scientific discovery. Guided by her father, a prominent scientist, Atkins was inspired by William Henry Fox Talbot to take up photography and was friends with Sir John Herschel, who invented the cyanotype photographic process in 1842. The next year, Atkins began making cyanotypes in an effort to illustrate and distribute information about her herbarium. The result was 'Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions', the first book to be illustrated with photographs. A decade later, she and her friend Anne Dixon expanded their visual inquiry to flowering plants, feathers, and other subjects. This volume is a revised and expanded edition of a long out-of-print monograph that first secured Atkins's place in the history of photography. It draws upon years of careful research and sets Atkins and her work in the proper context. Supplementary texts shed new light on her productions and on the cyanotype process, which is still used by artists today. The photographs themselves--ethereal, deeply hued, and wonderfully intricate--are brought to life with exquisite reproductions that are certain to win Atkins a new generation of followers"--Distributor.

Alternative Title

• Cyanotypes by Anna Atkins
• Blue prints : the pioneering photographs of Anna Atkins

Subject

• Atkins, Anna, 1799-1871 > Exhibitions
• Atkins, Anna, 1799-1871
• Dixon, Anne, 1799-1864
• 1800-1899
• Photography > Great Britain > History > 19th century > Exhibitions
• Photography, Artistic > Exhibitions
• Photography > Great Britain > History > 19th century
• Blueprinting > History > 19th century
• Photograms > History > 19th century
• Photography, Biological > History > 19th century
• Botanical illustration > History > 19th century
• 21.42 history of photographic art
• Blueprinting
• Photograms
• Photography
• Photography, Biological
• England

Genre/Form

• Exhibition catalogs.
• History.
• Photobooks.

Note

• "Published ... to accompany the exhibition Blue prints: the pioneering photographs of Anna Atkins, held at The New York Public Library from October 19, 2018 to February 17, 2019"--Colophon.
• Original edition published as: Sun gardens : Victorian photograms by Anna Atkins / text by Larry J. Schaaf ; organized by Hans P. Kraus, Jr. New York, New York : Aperture, [1985].
• "This new edition of Sun gardens--published on the occasion of the debut of Atkins's landmark project 175 years ago, and the opening of a major monographic exhibition of her work at The New York Public Library--updates and significantly expands on Schaaf's groundbreaking scholarship in the original 1985 book"--Preface, page 8.
• Includes 197 color and 32 black and white illustrations.
• "Part I of British algae (from the Sir John Herschel copy)" (pages 9-31) is a facsimile reproduction of: Photographs of British algae : cyanotype impressions. Part 1 / by Anna Atkins, 1843. Sir John Herschel's copy, presented to him by Atkins, is now held by The New York Public Library's Spencer Collection.
• "Selected plates from various holdings" (pages 90-168) comprises full-page reproductions of cyanotypes by Atkins and Anne Dixon.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 202-211) and index.

Contents

Preface / Joshua Chuang -- Part I of British algae (from the Sir John Herschel copy) / Anna Atkins -- Reminiscences / Larry J. Schaaf -- Pleasurable offerings to botanical friends / Larry J. Schaaf -- Selected plates from various holdings / Anna Atkins and Anne Dixon -- British algae: bibliographic details / Larry J. Schaaf, Joshua Chuang, and Emily Walz -- The productions of Anna Atkins and Anne Dixon / Larry J. Schaaf, Joshua Chuang, and Emily Walz -- On the origins, care, and feeding of cyanotypes / Mike Ware.

Call Number

*R-Photo 21-178

ISBN

• 9783791357980
• 3791357980

OCLC

1057896789

Author

Atkins, Anna, 1799-1871, photographer.

Title

Sun gardens : cyanotypes by Anna Atkins / [text by] Larry J. Schaaf ; edited by Joshua Chuang ; with contributions by Joshua Chuang, Emily Walz and Mike Ware.

Publisher

New York, NY : The New York Public Library, 2018.

Distributor

Munich ; London ; New York : Distributed by Delmonico Books/Prestel

Manufacturer

[East Greenwich, RI] : Meridian Printing

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 202-211) and index.

Chronological Term

1800-1899

Added Author

Schaaf, Larry J. (Larry John), 1947- author.

Container of (expression): Atkins, Anna, 1799-1871. Photographs of British algae. Part 1.

Dixon, Anne, 1799-1864, photographer.

Chuang, Joshua, editor, author.

Walz, Emily, author.

Ware, Mike, author.

Other Editions:

Expanded version of (work): Atkins, Anna, 1799-1871. Sun gardens : Victorian photograms by Anna Atkins. New York, New York : Aperture, [1985]. (DLC) 85047822 (OCoLC)12934968

Research Call Number

*R-Photo 21-178

*R-ART TR57 .S33 2018