CollectionsThe library collects resources that specifically support the work programs of all branches of the Botanic Gardens Trust. The collection complements the herbarium, providing access to both published and unpublished materials necessary for botanical research. Materials acquired are at a level appropriate for research professionals, for people studying at a higher degree level, or, in the case of horticultural materials, at a level appropriate for qualified practitioners. We do not generally acquire undergraduate level materials or material written for the home gardener. The Library CatalogueThe online Library Catalogue covers only the collection catalogued since 1986. This means that 134 years of the Library’s collection and indexing is buried away in a classified card catalogue. We are seeking funding to convert the card records. We are also preparing digital images of photographs and artworks to be viewed online through the catalogue. BooksThe Botanic Gardens Trust Library still has the first 26 books that established the collection in 1852. It is that kind of library. History is important to botanical and taxonomic study. We also have extensive resources relating to horticultural history. Our earliest work was published in 1550. The Library has prepared a list of the 25 most important works held in the collections. Sadly no records survive to let us know where our early works come from. A feature of the collection of rare and valuable works is the volumes relating to the early exploration of Australia. The Library buys and catalogues books for the main Sydney Library and for branch libraries at Mount Annan and Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens, as well as for many specialist working collections such as Plant Pathology, the ID Counter and the Education Unit. Our very small budget is spread very thinly. For many years the Friends of The Gardens has helped us with the proceeds from their annual book sale JournalsThe enormous journal collection includes all manner of titles. Many old leather bound volumes dating from the 18th Century sit alongside the latest in taxonomy, botany, plant ecology and horticulture. The Library holds many gems such as a complete set of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, with its stunning hand painted illustrations, Hooker’s Journal of Botany, Transactions of the Linneaen Society, Gardeners Chronicle and The Garden. Vertical FilesThe Library has 27 filing cabinets crammed with reports, articles, pamphlets, reprints, brochures, chapters and species lists from many locations. Most of this collection is only catalogued on cards so rummaging is often required unless the authors name is known. Sometimes precious finds appear out of this collection - such as the folded 1904 panoramic photograph of the Domain. It was matched up with two other panoramas that were in 10 pieces in different locations. These have been conserved with donor funds and framed and exhibited in the Red Box Gallery. ArtworksThe Botanic Gardens Trust Library has a considerable collection of artworks, many recently unburied by our artworks volunteer team. Alongside a small collection of artworks of the Gardens (including an 1850s drawing by Edward Turner which has been cleaned and conserved), we have two magnificent collections. One is a set of Banks’ Florilegium that was donated anonymously to the Trust. The other is two large leather bound volumes of original watercolours. Originally identified as Cunningham or Leuwin, they were recently identified as the original works of Joseph Lycett - the largest known collection of his watercolours. The Library’s artwork collection will grow considerably in future years because of the Florilegium Society of the Royal Botanic Gardens. It is an invitation-only society of artists. They will each be producing artworks of plants in the Gardens' living collection for the 2016 Bicentenary. Botanical IllustrationsA resurgence of interest in botanical illustration has swept across the Gardens when our illustrators researched and promoted the works of Margaret Flockton, the Trust’s first illustrator under Maiden. Since then the Friends have funded the annual Margaret Flockton Award for international illustrators. The Library holds an extensive collection of illustrations, primarily working drawings of Margaret Flockton and Mary Maiden, formerly held in the boxes of the Herbarium collection Historic Photographs, Glass SlidesThe modest yet historically important photographic collection of the Botanic Gardens Trust Library contains over 1000 photographs (black & white and colour) in a variety of formats, as well as 35 mm transparencies; negatives (acetate, polyester and glass plates). These images span a period of time ranging from 1855 to the present day. Their importance lies in their recording of important events, historic buildings, past Trust staff, and the development of the Gardens and their environs over time. Plant SlidesSome 5000 plant portraits dating back some 30 years and covering many of the major plant families and representative genera within them. MicroficheOver 200 microfiche on a variety of subjects from facsimiles of whole herbariums, contiguous sequences of historical botanical/scientific journals, and reproductions of 18th and 19th century botanical works. ManuscriptsHandwritten journals, notes, reports, and correspondence of botanists, explorers and past Trust staff and associates. Also included are author’s galley proofs (handwritten or typed) of published historical and botanical works. Some of the gems of this collection is a letter from Baron von Humboldt to Charles Cuvier - two 18th century scientific giants, Margaret Flockton’s lichen sketchbook, and Playfair’s algal notebooks. ArchivesThe archives of the Botanic Gardens Trust contain previous working and administrative records which are of historical interest. Included are Registers of plants received and despatched, Labour records, Correspondence registers, botanists papers (correspondence, notes, collecting books) and many ephemeral publications (brochures, guide maps, stickers, bookmarks, pamphlets, etc.). RealiaA selection of miscellaneous objects needing a secure home together, our realia collection includes items as diverse as Alan Cunningham’s collecting box, J.H. Maiden’s medallions, Dr Joyce Vickery’s OBE, Robert Brown’s snuff box, the card system of taxonomic records and various objects of interest unearthed from the garden beds. Maps & PlansThe Library holds a magnificent collection of facsimile maps of maps and plans of the Gardens since settlement. They are full-size, full colour reproductions sealed in Mylar sleeves. The collection was commissioned by Caroline Simpson and donated to the Gardens. This extraordinary gift has been used in so many ways and is an invaluable source in tracing aspects of the Gardens history. We also have early maps of all areas of NSW and elsewhere, enabling us to trace obscure locations and those that have been long since renamed. We have architectural maps of many of the Gardens buildings. We also have a mass of unsorted maps rolled up in piles, waiting for some attention. |
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Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, Australia
