There are a limited number of Fritsch Calendars still for sale

Cost-£5 including postage for UK (£4.00 for FBA members)

£6.00 including postage for the rest of the world (£5 to FBA members)

Please contact ehaworth@fba.org.uk to order.

Please also remember to provide the postal address.

Payment to the Freshwater Biological association is by cheque or provide card details.

Please post, or phone or fax card details to Fax No: +44 (0)15394 46914.

The Fritsch Collection of Algal Illustrations

The Feshwater Biological Association,

The Ferry Landing,

Far Sawrey, Ambleside,

Cumbria, LA22 0LP, UK

The Fritsch Collection is now 100 years old and Celebrating its Centenary in 2012.

In 1912 Professor F.E. Fritsch began filing published algal illustrations to assist his interest in the morphology and range of algal species, especially the desmids. In the days before copiers he used to ask authors for two reprints so that he could cut up one copy for his filing system of individual species sheets. If these were not forthcoming he either traced or cut out the figures anyway (and some in the FBA's library reprints attest to this practice!). His notes were handwritten or typed and glued on to the edges of the foolscap sheet, as overlays. Many of the original figures and descriptions are also included and each author's figure was cross- referenced by date to the Author Index. Most references are in the FBA Library.

This began as Fritsch's own aide memoire, his 'Scrap Book', and was also of considerable use to his students and visitors. On his death in 1954 it came to John Lund at the FBA who continued to update it with the help of a series of assistants. Originally the figures were line drawings, some of the earliest ones being published using etched copper plates. Subsequently photographs and electron micrographs were used in publications and colour plates are now common. Microfiche copies of pre-1992 sheets were produced by Inter Documentation Company, now part of BRILL.

The Collection contains floristic information from a wide range of papers published worldwide, from the end of the eighteenth century to the present day. For ease of use the sheets were, and still are, organized alphabetically by genus and species within the major groups, e.g. Diatoms, Red Algae, Blue greens (Cyanobacteria), etc. Today the original diagnoses are always included. Part of the author index has become searchable on this website Half the desmid section has now been digitized as the pilot for the searchable online version and we are currently seeking the funding to enable its completion. Two volunteers currently assist the Curator.

The information, which now exceeds 100,000 foolscap sheets and several million illustrations, together with its own reprint collection, is currently accessed by email, phone, letter or personal visit.

We are planning to mark this centenary with various activities over the year, of which the production of a 2012 calendar is the first.

If you are coming to the north of England, why not come and visit the collection? We would be delighted to see you and continue to answer queries. We also plan to update this website during the year.

Our Emeritus Curator - Dr J W G Lund celebrated his 99th birthday in November 2011.

------------------

David Williamson has now added his collection of Desmid Illustrations to the Freshwater Biological Association. Over 10,000 of his own drawings, of individual taxa, are filed in labelled folders in three 2-drawer filing cabinets within the Fritsch Collection. It is his wish that these be available to anyone interested in Desmids, so all are welcome. Each illustration is accompanied by the location and date, and size, as well as the name of the Collector if not from his own material. David Williamson has produced many published papers and several books, the most recent being the new Ray Society volume A Monograph on some British Desmids. A.J. Brook and D.B. Williamson. Edited by J.H. Price and N.J. Evans. 2010. He has also contributed to the new edition of The freshwater algal flora of the British Isles: an identification guide to freshwater and terrestrial algae.

------------------

A project funded by The Pilgrim Trust digitized over 7000 images, approximately half of the Desmid section of the Fritsch Collection. Funds are being sought to complete online access.

We are always grateful for news of taxa and for reprints on algal taxonomy, especially those with new species.