Cataloging and Digitizing the LuEsther T. Mertz Library's Nursery and Trade Catalog Collection

FAIN: PW-50913-11

New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, NY 10458-5126)
Susan Fraser (Project Director: July 2010 to September 2015)

Cataloging of 58,000 nursery and seed trade catalogs dating from 1804 to the present and digitization of 1,700 catalogs in the public domain to be freely accessible online.

The New York Botanical Garden's The LuEsther T. Mertz Library, the most comprehensive botanical and horticultural library in the Americas, seeks funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to catalog all 58,000 items in its Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection and digitize the complete contents of 1,700 catalogs that were printed before 1923 and are in the public domain. The collection, one of the largest and most important of its kind in the United States, provides some of the earliest information available on the history and development of botany, horticulture, and commercial agriculture in the country. The proposed project is the largest cataloging and digitizing effort ever for a Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection in the United States, and will create an accessible, navigable, and comprehensive image and information resource for researchers studying plant science, horticulture, and related humanities fields.

Media Coverage

(Media Coverage)
Author(s): Susan Fraser
Publication: Newsletter of the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries
Date: 12/1/2012
Abstract: Announcement of the NEH-funded Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Project, and a bequest of nursery and seed trade catalogs to the collection.

Hydrangea Hyperbole at New York Botanical Garden (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: The New York Times
Date: 10/31/2013
Abstract: Article on nursery and seed trade catalogs
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/arts/design/hydrangea-hyperbole-at-new-york-botanical-garden.html

Associated Products

Fun with Seeds (Blog Post)
Title: Fun with Seeds
Author: Andrew Tschinkel
Abstract: A blog post on nursery and seed trade catalogs, also discussing The New York Botanical Garden's NEH-funded project to process and partially digitize its Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection.
Date: 12/18/14
Primary URL: http://blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2014/12/fun-with-seeds.html
Website: Biodiversity Heritage Library

LibGuides: Nursery and Seed Catalogs (Web Resource)
Title: LibGuides: Nursery and Seed Catalogs
Author: Andrew Tschinkel
Abstract: A series of LibGuides to describe plant nurseries of significant historical or cultural value, and to promote the Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection to scholars, students, and the public. The LibGuides include an introductory landing page that provides an overview of the scope and goals of the project, as well as text, bibliographies, videos, and images describing the botanical, historical, and cultural context of some of the most prominent individuals and commercial nurseries in American horticulture.
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://libguides.nybg.org/nurseryandseedcatalogs

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