From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 9)

Finishing Bateman Forwarding Like all professions, bookbinding has its own specialized vocabulary. What do you think bookbinders mean when they say they are “forwarding” a book? Are they pushing it in front of them? Are they sending to on to another recipient? Not likely. After a book is sewn together, it needs to be put…

In the Footsteps of Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt is one of the most influential people you’ve probably never heard of. Yet you’ve likely heard the name, whether you know it or not. His name adorns cities and schools, mountains and glaciers, and a dozen plants and animals including the Humboldt penguins at the St. Louis Zoo. When combined, there are…

From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 8)

Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala is almost complete! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has been disbound, cleaned, mended, guarded and washed (at…

From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 7)

Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala is underway! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. As of March 2019, Bateman’s Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala had been surface cleaned, mended, filled…

Garden of Thrones

Lamenting the end of Game of Thrones? We’re here for you. After all, where else in the 7 kingdoms of St. Louis can you sit on an actual throne? And that’s not the only GoT inspiration you can find at MoBOT. Take the Kingsroad (Kingshighway) to the Missouri Botanical Garden and let your inner dragon…

Plant Profile: Holly

It’s a plant perhaps best known for decking the halls, but holly goes far beyond holiday decorations.

From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 6)

Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala is underway! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. Putting Bateman Back Together Now that the leaves of Bateman’s Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala have been…

From the Library: Rare Book Discovery

Death, be not proud . . . No man is an island . . . And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Sound familiar? These phrases all come from the pen of John Donne (1572-1631), an influential English poet whom some of you may remember from your…

From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 5)

Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has begun! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. What Is Alum? Alum is an aluminum salt that has been used for hundreds of years to process…

From the Library: Context be Damned | Bacon’s New Atlantis

Francis Bacon is largely known for his Novum Organum Scientiarum (the philosophy that established the scientific method), Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human (proposing that higher education of everyone is beneficial to society as a whole), and New Atlantis. It is this last tract in Bacon’s oeuvre that is most misunderstood—and in…

From the Library: Rebuilding the Bateman Book (Part 4)

Conservation work on the Peter H. Raven Library’s copy of The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala has begun! Follow along as we document this painstaking restoration of one of the largest and grandest volumes in the Garden’s rare book collection. The Peter H Raven Library’s copy of Bateman’s Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala was issued in several parts…