Considered to be one of the world's greatest repositories of botanical and horticultural literature, The LuEsther T. Mertz Library houses a treasury of published and archival documents that trace the development of botany and horticulture from the twelfth century to the present day. The collections reflect the evolution of plant study from its origins in ancient medicine and agriculture to modern scientific pursuits, including plant genomics, systematics, economic and ethnobotany and the conservation of biodiversity.

Drawing from this wealth of materials, the Fall 2009 exhibition will highlight some rarely seen items that demonstrate the extraordinary beauty and depth of the library's collections. Included in the exhibit will be samples of some of the greatest flower books ever published; depictions of early botanical exploration; sumptuously illustrated fruits; manuscript material offering invaluable original source documentation known to only a handful of scholars; sumptuously illustrated mycological works and a gallery of images drawn from the Library's holdings of 30,000 pieces of original botanical artwork.

The exhibit will also pay tribute to the art of the book and will include a glimpse of some intricate frontispiece illustrations and elaborate title pages. Also on view will be a number of remarkable and highly decorative gilded gift books from the collection of beautiful 19th century gold stamp publisher's bindings.

While many of these items have been selected for their intrinsic beauty, all have research value to interdisciplinary scholars in the sciences and humanities alike. Eighty percent of the items have never before been on public display.

View the illustrated checklist for the exhibition. www.nybg.org/library/image.php"


Guided tours of the exhibition will be scheduled periodically. The schedule of tours will be available via the Botanical Garden's Web site at www.nybg.org/plan_your_visit/planyourvisit.php

Exhibitions in the Mertz Library are made possible by the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, William D. Rondina and The Carlisle Collection.