Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00012982Scolopendrium Vulgare
by Anna Atkins
About the Artwork
In 1843, Anna Atkins produced the first book illustrated with photographs. The book was the earliest use of photography in a scientific publication. An amateur botanist, Atkins overcame the difficulties of making accurate drawings by placing plants directly on light-sensitive paper and exposing them to light. With these cameraless photographs, later called photograms, she was able to carefully record the basic elements of a plant's line, shape, and texture. This example illustrates a specimen of Scolopendrium Vulgare, also known as Hart's-Tongue fern.
Inscriptions
Written in negative: "Scolopendrium Vulgare"; in pencil on verso: "87"; "1.8"; "1258.4"; MC"
Provenance
Anne Dixon
Exhibition history
Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Anna Atkins (British, 1799–1871)
- Date
- 1852–54
- Medium
- cyanotype
- Dimensions
- Image: 33.3 x 22.9 cm (13 1/8 x 9 in.); Paper: 48.3 x 37.5 cm (19 x 14 3/4 in.); Matted: 61 x 50.8 cm (24 x 20 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund
- Accession no.
- 1995.26
More by Anna Atkins in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00012982
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