othmeralia:This book plate of Dr. A. Frank was designed by Richard Scholz. Richard Scholz was a Germ

othmeralia:

This book plate of Dr. A. Frank was designed by Richard Scholz. Richard Scholz was a German illustrator best known for children’s books including Hansel and Gretel. He lived from 1860 to 1939.

Dr. A. Frank is Dr. Adolph Frank (1834-1916), a German-Jew chemist, engineer, and businessman. He is best known for having discovered uses of potash ( a mixture of potassium hydroxide and potassium carbonate left over in ashes) and creating the industry. He took up an apprenticeship as an apothecary in Osterburg while in school. From 1855-1857 he studied pharmacy, natural sciences and technology at university in Berlin. In 1862 he received his doctorate in chemistry from the university in Gottingen.

His work in the fertilizer field led to the use of the fertilizer discovered by Sidney Gilchrist Thomas. Along with Nikodem Caro, he developed the Frank-Caro process of extracting calcium cyanamide in 1899, which was the foundation of the nitrogen and calcium cyanamide fertilizer industry.

The brown coloring of bottles, which is to protect the content of the bottle from the effects of light, can also be attributed to him. He was awarded the John Scott Medal by our Philadelphia neighbors, the Franklin Institute, in 1893.

The book that the plate is in is Taschenbuch der Flora Deutschlands; nach dem Linnéischen Systeme geordnet, 1847. It is about the flora of Germany arranged according to the Linnaeus system.