This is the first book of photos ever made, and it's only images of British algae

Spencer Collection/New York Public Library

In 1843, British botanist Anna Atkins made history.

When experimenting with photography, Atkins didn't go for images of landscapes or pictures of pretty flowers. Instead, the amateur botanist created the first book produced entirely of photographic works, titled "Photographs of British Algae."

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The New York Public Library system bought a copy of the 173-year-old work and recently released its images into the public domain.

Here's the story of how the first book ever produced using photographic work came to be only photos of algae.