Unfortunately, there's no scratch n' sniff

July 5, 2020 4:02 PM

"Owen Simmons' 1903 'The Book of Bread', is famous in the book world as, arguably, the first photobook" (threadreader version) Thus begins @incunabula's brief paean to this remarkable, but rare object. Luckily, a scan of the book is available at the Wellcome Collection website.
posted by gwint (7 comments total)

This is amazing.
posted by brook horse at 5:16 PM on July 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

There's an interesting discussion in the replies about the fact that the first photobook might more arguably be a book about algae by a female scientist. It doesn't take away from the beauty of the bread book if it wasn't first, but as the responder @TaMcColgan notes, "Women in science have been systematically undervalued their accomplishments buried for centuries. Some of us have taken it upon ourselves to make sure these remarkable women receive the credit they are due."
posted by jacquilynne at 7:11 PM on July 5, 2020 [3 favorites]

What a fascinating thing - many thanks for the post, gwint!

jacuilynne - I can never get the hang of Twitter, but I'm guessing the earlier book would be Anna Atkins' Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions' (previously though the relevant links there look dead).
posted by misteraitch at 2:33 AM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yes, that's the right one. I should have mentioned it and Anna Atkins by name in my post, sorry!
posted by jacquilynne at 5:49 AM on July 6, 2020

The nutrition table for some starch-free bread on p40 (printed) / 54 (pdf) lists that it's 75.76% 'Flesh Formers', which I assume is a scary way to describe protein.
posted by dowcrag at 8:13 AM on July 6, 2020

That's an incredible book.

For some historical context, check out the short-form podcast series Our Daily Bread, especially this episode.
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 8:58 AM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Wow. It's never occurred to me to wonder what the first photo book might be, but if you gave me 100 guesses, "different kinds of bread loaves" would never have made that list.
posted by Mchelly at 10:37 AM on July 6, 2020