Rare Book Collection
The GCA’s Rare Book Collection
Housed at the New York Botanical Gardens’ LuEsther T. Mertz Library, the GCA’s collection contains over 700 donated titles available for research and discovery. Donations from GCA authors, GCA club members, their heirs, publishers, and other authors were of primary importance and remain the only means by which the library acquires books.
A group of carnations from Robert J. Thornton’s Temple of Flora (1807)
One of the oldest books in the Rare Book Collection is an early 17th century Gerard Herball, translated into English from the Dutch. Two prize editions in the field of botanical art are Mark Catesby’s The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Island (1771), and Robert J. Thornton’s Temple of Flora (1807).
“Bibliophiles and scholars will be interested in the 17th to 20th century bindings, gardening manuals, travel books, and handbooks.”
Bibliophiles and scholars will be interested in the 17th to 20th century bindings, gardening manuals, travel books, and handbooks. The collection includes letters written by Gertrude Jekyll when she contributed articles to the GCA Bulletin in 1920-1921, as well as first editions of Edith Wharton and Rachel Carson. One of the more recent acquisitions is a gift from the Lenox Garden Club of a rare international stamp collection featuring flowers throughout the world.
From the GCA’s Rare Book Collection
Photo of Gardening by the Book by Arete Warren
The story of the GCA’s book collection is beautifully told by distinguished GCA club member and author, Arete Warren, in Gardening By The Book, her catalog of the 2013 exhibition held at the Grolier Club in honor of the GCA’s 100th anniversary.
Exhibitions with outside institutions played a significant role in the library’s development and further stimulated donations. The very first, Flower Gardens, A Selected List of Books…, was co-sponsored by the GCA with the New York Public Library and was held in January of 1915. Under the direction of the Southampton Garden Club President, Mrs. Albert Barnes Boardman, the exhibition featured garden literature representative of the 19th and early 20th century excluding subjects on wild flowers and vegetables. The books were chosen from among the works on flower gardening in the New York Public Library (NYPL).
Joint exhibits with other distinguished institutions followed in 1927 (NYPL) and in 1941 (Grolier Club) and included items borrowed from the private collections of GCA club members, Grolier Club members, and public institutions such as the New-York Horticultural Society, The Morgan Library, and Princeton University. These early exhibits forged an important connection with the world of books and encouraged more donations, including rare books from members or in their memory.