Woodburytype: Marsilea Quadrifolia, plate IV

The abstract beauty of photographic documents. This microscopic image of an Marsilea Quadrifolia was photographed by Louis Frédéric Olivier (1854 - 1910) at 15, Quai Voltaire in Paris. Initially attracted by botany, his thesis on the integumentary apparatus of roots (Appareil tégumentaire des racines) was rewarded by the Academy of Sciences. The offered Woodburytype is part of this publication.

After his studies, Olivier returned to the textile industry for a while and developed certain improvements, including a thread winder for which he filed a patent. He then worked on the reduction of sulfates, conducting his experiments on algae. At 35, he abandoned this research to devote himself to popularizing science and created the "Revue générale des sciences pures et appliquées", investing a good part of his considerable fortune in it.

Marsilea quadrifolia is a herbaceous plant found naturally in central and southern Europe, Caucasia, western Siberia, Afghanistan, south-west India, China, Japan, and Vietnam, though it is considered a weed in some parts of the United States, where it has been well established in the northeast for over 100 years. Its common names include four leaf clover and European waterclover (USA), even though it is not a species of clover. [Wikipedia]

The woodburytype (or photoglyptie in French) is in very good condition and mounted on its original cardboard.

print ca. 15 x 12,4 cm
mount ca. 24 x 15,5 cm

Literature: Louis Olivier, Recherches sur l'appareil tégumentaire des racines, G. Masson, 1881, 170 p.