STENFORT (PIERRE FÉLIX) The most beautiful plants of the sea. Paris: chez l'auteur et tous les libraires, 1874 In-8, red percaline, framed in cold on the covers, author and title in gilt on the first cover, smooth spine decorated (publisher's binding) A rare first edition of 500 copies of this alguier, produced following an exploratory mission to the coasts of the Ocean and the English Channel, entrusted to F. Stenfort by the Minister of Education in 1873. The work consists of a textual section dealing successively with the treatment and application of seaweed, the search for and harvesting of seaweed, general information on seaweed, an introduction to the botany of seaweed, the three classes of seaweed (fucoids, florids, zoospores), descriptions of the families, a list of the species described with their detailed descriptions, etc. A copy containing 53 samples of real algae glued to card, one of which is bound at the head, whereas most copies appear to have only 51. A printed label identifying the glued seaweed has been added below the plants. Stenfort collected tens of thousands of samples of seaweed, which enabled him to offer different ones each time in the 500 copies that make up this edition, making each one unique. Copy in publisher's hardback Dedicated copy