A beautiful albumen contact print of "Graminées". Gramineae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as true grasses.
This beautiful example was found in the Saint Germain forest. The Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a dominial forest of 35 km2 in area which lies in a meander of the River Seine, France. Situated 20 km West of Paris. In 1811 the Légion d'Honneur camp was built in the forest. In 1856, Napoléon III built a large firing range.

This botanical document is a beautiful example of the photographic technique of using the plant as a negative. Making this kind of contact print was practiced by Fox Talbot and Anna Atkins in the early days of photography. It results in an aesthetically pleasing scientific document, a photogram.

Albumen print with very nice tonality and only minor traces of use and age. Mounted on it original hand made cardboard mount.

mount ca. 23,2 x 19,1 cm
albumen print ca. 16,5 x 11,4 cm