A Monograph of the Algae of the Firth of Forth. Illustrated with Herbarium Specimens of some of the Rare Species.

Bookseller Notes

A late nineteenth-century monograph about Scottish algae, containing remarkably vibrant specimens, by celebrated self-taught phycologist George W. Traill (1836-97). Traill (1836-97) was a clerk in the Standard Life Company in Edinburgh, who in what little spare time he had became one of the greatest authorities on Scottish algae. He was an indefatigable collector, who in 1892 donated his collection to the Herbarium of the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. A loosely inserted advertisement for the present work features glowing reviews from Nature and the Journal of Botany: 'The work of a true and enthusiastic naturalist [...] The number of species enumerated as found on the shores of the Firth of Forth are 225, of which one-ninth of the whole number are new to Britain'. The specimens, which retain the full listing of algae identified by Traill, have retained their colour beautifully.Uncommon. Library Hub cites six copies in British and Irish institutional libraries. Also in stock, one other copy with identical text but varying provenance and alternative specimens.