Stephani in turn bequeathed them his herbarium, drawings, library, notes and scientific correspondence.
The first editions of the work appeared in 1898, in the Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier, and the final volume 27 years later, in 1925.
"[2] In the first decades of this [20th] century, systematic work in hepaticology received a lasting shock, in consequence of the publication by Stephani of his six-volume Species Hepaticarum (1898–1924).
Although originally a conscientious, if not critical, hepaticologist, Stephani was eventually overwhelmed by the endless stream of exotic material sent to him for study.
As a result, the last volumes of his work exhibit so much irresponsibility that a tremendous burden is now thrown on the shoulders of other workers, present and future.