Library, art and archives

When William Jackson Hooker took up the post of Kew Director in 1841 there was no official library. In 1852, the ground floor of Hunter House (at the front of the present complex of Herbarium and Library buildings) was made available for one to be formed.

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FDN How you can help Books in Kew's library

Books from Kew's Library

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Historical information

Early acquisitions included 600 books bequeathed by Isle of Wight-based botanist Reverend William A Bromfield and 1,200 texts donated by botanist George Bentham. From the 1850s the Treasury allowed Kew to spend £100 a year on books. After Hooker died in 1865, Kew bought Hooker’s library and correspondence for £1,000 in 1866.

The Bentham-Moxon Trust, established with monies donated by George Bentham in 1884 plus ML and AE Moxon in 1931, enabled Kew to buy more valuable volumes, including Edouard Morren’s Bromeliaceae drawings, Fuch’s De historia stirpium (1551) and the Tankerville collection of flower drawings including some by GD Ehret and Margaret Meen. Today the library is one of the most important botanical reference collections in the world, containing 310,000 books, periodicals and pamphlets; 7 million sheets of letters and private papers, 200,000 plant drawings, watercolours and prints; and 205,000 photographs of Kew, people and plants. Over 90 languages are represented.

What the library offers

The main subjects covered are taxonomy and systematics but there is also material on specialized horticulture, horticultural history and management. A collection on botanic gardens and garden history includes seed lists from botanic gardens and nursery catalogues from commercial growers. There are specialist sections covering palms, monocots, ferns, grasses and orchids, plus maps and travel literature related to botanical expeditions. The separate Jodrell Library holds books and periodicals on plant anatomy, genetics, biochemistry, economic botany, ethnobotany, medicinal plants and mycology. Material relating to seeds and plant physiology is held in the Millennium Seed Bank Library at Wakehurst Place.

1 comment on ''

Tom Tomalin says

17/05/2012 4:44:41 PM | Report abuse

is the Victoria gate and kew gardend Ready for the Blue Blobbers on Sunday.

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Your Kew

We invite photographers to capture the sights at Kew and Wakehurst. These images are a selection of images submitted by photographers from around the world. We hope you enjoy them. You can see more on Flickr.

Events at Kew Gardens

Featured Events and Attractions:
north american landscape kew at the british museum 2012

North American Landscape - Kew at the British Museum

Thu 10 May - Fri 25 May 2012

 

Three Humps by David Nash

Talk - David Nash at Kew Gardens

Part of David Nash 2012

Tue 29 May 2012

Don’t miss this unique chance to hear from David Nash as he talks about his life and work and the things that have inspired his creativity – from running tables and boulders to the wood of trees brought down by storms, lightning or disease.

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