Library, Art and Archives

Discover nearly 2,000 years of plant knowledge in one of the most extensive botanical libraries in the world.

Illustrations and Artefacts Collection

Kew’s Library, Art and Archives collection spans 2,000 years of plant knowledge and discovery.

With information on the naming, classification and uses of plants, plant ecology, conservation, and the wild plants of the world, it's a treasure trove of plant stories. 

If you’re a researcher, a garden lover, or simply an avid reader, our collection offers plenty of resources on botanic gardens and herbaria worldwide, the history of gardening and garden design, and biographical materials on botanists and gardeners. The oldest item in the collection dates back to the 1370s, while our copies of ancient works of botany invite you to journey even further back in time.  

The Reading Room in the Library at Kew
The Reading Room in the Library at Kew
Rossioglossum grande, labelled as Odontoglossum grande from John Day's Scrapbook, 1883

Highlights 

Explore the treasures of our collections 

As well as items on the history of Kew Gardens and Wakehurst, we hold original sources from many of the significant figures in botanical history, including Charles Darwin, Sir Joseph Hooker, Elsie Wakefield and Marianne North.  

Charles Darwin writes to his Professor at Cambridge as he leaves the shores of South America for the Galapagos Islands on board the H.M.S. Beagle, summer 1835
Charles Darwin writes to his Professor at Cambridge as he leaves the shores of South America for the Galapagos Islands on board the H.M.S. Beagle, summer 1835
A unique collection of fine Japanese papers, produced for the Millennium, in 12 volumes. Washi: the soul of Japan, fine Japanese paper in the second millennium
A unique collection of fine Japanese papers, produced for the Millennium, in 12 volumes. Washi : the soul of Japan, fine Japanese paper in the second millennium (Library)
Detail of field sketch of Everest by Joseph Dalton Hooker c. 1848
Detail of Field sketch of Mount Everest by Joseph Dalton Hooker
Watercolour illustration of Mount Everest by Walter Hood Fitch, c. 1848
Watercolour illustration of Mount Everest by Walter Hood Fitch, c. 1848
An early Kew fungus foray in Epping Forest with Kew botanists George Massee and Elsie Wakefield, c.1910
An early Kew fungus foray in Epping Forest with Kew botanists George Massee and Elsie Wakefield, c.1910

We regularly acquire new publications for specialist and popular audiences, keeping our collection fresh and contemporary. Whether you’re seeking maps or expedition reports, ancient texts or new publications, there’s a world of plant knowledge to discover and study in our Reading Room today.  

Visiting the Library Reading Room  

Opening hours

Monday - Friday

10am to 4pm  

Plan your visit  

Access to the Library Reading Room is free and open to the public. The Reading Room has a reference collection, an exhibition area and also book and journal displays.  

You are welcome to drop-in on the day if you wish to visit the Reading Room. For more formal research enquiries, or to consult specific items from within the collections, registration is required. 

Access Kew's Library Catalogue

Contact 

Please contact the Library, Art or Archives teams if you would like to arrange a visit.  

Location  

For travel information to Kew Gardens, see our visitor information pages.  The Main Library is located in the Herbarium building off Kew Green to the right of Elizabeth Gate. The nearest public transport station is Kew Bridge (overland rail). There is very limited parking alongside Kew Green. 

For full details on visiting the Library, please download this short guide with all the information you need. 

 

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Great Pagoda

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Great Pagoda
Photo of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker

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Botany on Ice: Joseph Dalton Hooker's Antarctic Journal

As part of Kew’s celebration of the bicentenary of Joseph Dalton Hooker’s birth in 1817, the Joseph Hooker Correspondence Project is pleased to announce that Hooker’s ‘Antarctic Journal’ is now available online via the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Joseph Hooker's Antarctic journal
Fungi

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Fabulous fungi: the illustrations of Elsie M. Wakefield

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