Tag: Lenhardt Library

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June Flowers

The past few weeks have been shaky, but it’s truly spring. Although the outdoors are more forbidding than in previous springs, maybe you’ve found things to do around the house that still foster a little bit of that feeling of being in nature.  Images from the Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s  rare books have that perfect balance of spring energy and necessary homebodyness.

If you’ve been gardening, you can see how it and tree pruning was done in the later 16th century.

black and white type print engraving of hand-held farm equipment lying on the ground.
Giardino di agricoltura, Marco Bussato. 1593.  Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Used with permission from Lenhardt Library of Chicago Botanic Garden.
black and white type print engraving of a man standing on a ladder and pruning branches of a leaf-less tree.
Giardino di agricoltura, Marco Bussato. 1593.  Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Used with permission from Lenhardt Library of Chicago Botanic Garden.

Or if you’ve taken a different route and are thinking of some retro interior design improvements inspired by early 20th century wood engraving such as these from Rudolf Koch’s Das Blumenbach:

color engraving of a red flower with the German name of the flower in Fraktur type.
Das Blumenbuch by Rudolf Koch. 1933. Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Used with permission from Lenhardt Library of Chicago Botanic Garden
color engraving of a white flower with the German name of the flower in Fraktur type.
Das Blumenbuch by Rudolf Koch. 1933. Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Used with permission from Lenhardt Library of Chicago Botanic Garden

Watching the blooms, so many people have unearthed their sketchbooks and pencils to work on their nature drawing skills in the prairie grasses. Helen Sharp’s 18 volume collection of watercolor sketches could help inspire the beauty, highlight some long-lost technique, or be the outlet for your stir-crazy, competitive spirit. 

color watercolor painting of a false indigo flower.
Water-color Sketches of Plants of North America 1888 to 1910 by Helen Sharp. Volume 09. Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Used with permission from Lenhardt Library of Chicago Botanic Garden.
color watercolor painting of a bell flower.
Water-color Sketches of Plants of North America 1888 to 1910 by Helen Sharp. Volume 15. Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Used with permission from Lenhardt Library of Chicago Botanic Garden.

There are so many floral indulgences in the IDHH .The rare books from the Lenhardt Library are great for browsing with studious intensity, keeping us company while we wait out the storm inside. See more from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lenhardt Library in the IDHH.

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Celebrating Spring with the Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden

There is still a nip in the air across Illinois but this week marks the calendar’s first week of Spring. To celebrate Spring and to turn our minds toward warmer weather, the IDHH highlights the Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s collection in the Illinois Digital Archive. The collection features more than 100 digitized books, postcards, and photography. These digital items represent a tiny fraction of the Lenhardt Library’s rare book collection, which provides 500 years of research on nearly all things related to botany, horticulture, agriculture, gardening, landscaping, and botanical art.
The first three items below are postcards featuring photomechanical prints of original photographs and paintings of botanical landmarks in Lincoln Park, Jackson Park, and Washington Park. All of these places, the Conservatories in Lincoln Park and Washington Park and the Japanese Garden in Jackson Park are still extant.

The last items are photographs from the 1965 Chicago World Flower and Garden Show. First held in 1847, the tradition continues to this day.

Thanks to our contributor, the Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Gardens. See all of their items in the IDHH or check out all IDHH items with the subject, “Spring.”