NÖRDLINGER (Hermann von). Fünfzig Querschnitte der in Deutschland wachsenden hauptsächlichsten Bau-, Werk- und Brennhölzer. Für Forstleute, Techniker und Holzarbeiter. Stuttgart und Augsburg: Cotta, 1858. [Fifty cross-sections of the main construction, work, and firewood species grown in Germany. For foresters, technicians, and woodworkers] As issued, an octavo sewn book of 32 pages, accompanied by 50 samples of wood each mounted in a paper folder, with an oval cut-out. The samples have been cut so as to reveal the grain, its colour, structure and so forth. NÖRDLINGER (Hermann von). Querschnitte von hundert Holzarten. Fortsetzung oder zweiter Band enthaltend hundert weitere, theils europäische, theils ausländische Holzarten. Stuttgart und Augsburg, Cotta, 1856. [Cross-sections of one hundred wood species.] Same idea, this time with an octavo book of 36 pages, one very large folding plate and 100 wood samples, each presented in the same way as the above. Each is in excellent condition and presents very well indeed: surely of interested to the handyman, furniture specialist, etc, These are very scarce: with one copy listed in the UK (Cambridge) for the 100 sampler, and only one listed (Royal Horticultural Society) for the 50 sampler. THE AUTHOR Hermann Nordlinger (1818 – 1891) dedicated a lifetime to collecting thin slices of wood from every type of tree on Earth he could obtain. His goal was the assemblage and distribution of a collection of over a thousand species useful for botanists, forestry students, furniture makers, and anyone else interested in the identification and properties of timber. At the time, the standard method for studying the physical characteristics of different woods involved using wooden reference blocks from known tree species. However, an assemblage of blocks was heavy, cumbersome, and challenging to store, transport, and organize. Researchers had to travel to the facilities that housed these collections, and because of the space needed, there were few. As a professor of forestry education, Nordlinger sought to find a more effective method. He believed that the properties of wood could be learned well using representative paper-thin cross-sectional slices shaved from the wood of trees. Nordlinger’s approach was to provide experiential information to students about various wood species while significantly reducing the size and weight of a hundred trees to that of a library book. THE BOOKS The first book-sized issue toward meeting Nordlinger’s goal was titled Querschnitte von Hundert Holzarten (Cross-Sections of One Hundred Tree Species). The volume contained one hundred wood cross-sections, each approximately three by one inch in area and only one-hundredth of an inch in thickness. Each specimen was delicate and placed within a protective folded paper envelope with an oval viewing port on one side. These envelopes served as the book’s pages. Nordlinger exhibited samples of these pages, along with the wood blocks from which they were cut, at worldwide fairs held in London. The first fair was the famous Crystal Palace exhibition in 1851. His wood sections received commendations from the event’s Award’s Committee. RECENT APPRECIATION Over a century later, the world remembered little of Nordlinger’s work until Ben Bubner, in the 2008 edition of the Journal of the International Association of Wood Analysts, cast new light on Nordlinger’s extensive dendrological contributions. Bubner’s research not only brought forward the scientific value and uniqueness of Nordlinger’s Querschnitte von Hundert Holzarten but also informed scholars as to the rarity of Nordlinger’s quickly disappearing collections. [Bubner, Ben (2008) The Wood Cross Sections Of Hermann Nordlinger (1818–1897) IAWA Journal, Vol. 29 (4), 439–457, Journal of the International Association of Wood Analysts)]