A Collection of Seaweed Specimens from French Algeria

Various: By the author, 1864. First Edition. Very good. Twenty three specimens, mounted on nine loose sheets of cream stock; paper 10 1/2 x 8; specimens with various sizes, some quite large, ie. approx. 7 1/2 x 9; most subtitled, in manuscript, in French, with place, date, etc.; a few minor spots; very good or better condition.A beautiful collection of seaweed, it was assembled along the coast of Mostaganem province, in the northwest of Algeria. Some of the places identified included La Salamandre, Karouba (ie. Kharouba), the City of Mostaganem, and others. Seeing the careful penmanship on the paper and the time period, the samples were most probably collected by a French lady in Colonial Algeria. It was around this time, the mid-19th century, when the seaweed-collecting craze was sweeping Europe and becoming a favorite pastime for ladies, whose access to scientific explorations was otherwise largely restricted. Furthermore, as seaweed was fragile and somewhat difficult to handle, it was also a matter of pride, for one to be able to carefully and artfully arrange and preserve the specimens.