Improving Storage for Denver Botanic Gardens Historical Archives and Special Library Collections

FAIN: PG-52086-13

Denver Botanic Gardens, Inc. (Denver, CO 80206-3751)
April Miller (Project Director: May 2012 to February 2014)
Allaina Wallace (Project Director: February 2014 to April 2016)

Purchasing rehousing supplies and environmental monitoring equipment that would benefit a collection of more than 700 rare books, an archival collection, as well as an extensive botanical stamp collection and a significant collection of seed and nursery catalogs. A highlight of the rare books collection is De Historia Stirpium Commentari Insignes (Leonard Fuchs, 1542), considered one of the most beautiful books of the Renaissance. It describes in Latin some 497 plants, including select specimens from the New World. Students and researchers use the materials to explore trends in horticulture, the history of American public gardens, and the design work of seed catalog art.

The Helen Fowler Library maintains a collection of archival and special collection materials that include rare books/herbals, correspondence and photographs recording the founding/early years of Denver Botanic Gardens, a botanically themed stamp collection consisting of several thousand miniature prints illustrating flowers and plants as interpreted by artists in 279 countries, and historic Denver Botanic Gardens blueprints and garden plans. The library also holds an extensive collection of seed and nursery catalogs dating from the late 1800s through the twentieth century, which reflect trends in American gardening and document plant introductions. This grant will support the purchase of storage materials to rehouse archival and special collection materials which include paper items, photographs/negatives, blueprints, postage stamps, and bound materials. The grant will also support the purchase of data loggers to monitor environmental conditions within collections storage areas.