Collections

Rosa sempervirens from De Historia Stirpium by Leonhart Fuchs 1542

Rare Books

The Rare Book & Journal Collections includes 16th century herbals, 21st century florilegia, and an array of important and beautiful works in between. Many of the books were purchased by Elmer and Eleanor Andersen specifically for Andersen Horticultural Library. Support from the Andersen Book Trust, Friends of the Andersen Horticultural Library, as well as donations by individuals, enable us to continue adding to this collection.

The focus of the collection is on botany, horticulture, natural history, and landscape design. Works include several by noted figures, such as Carl Linnaeus, John Gould, and Humphry Repton. Many of the works feature botanical illustration, from crude engravings of early herbals to the exquisite renderings of Pierre-Joseph Redouté and Georg Dionysius Ehret. Thousands of plants are immortalized by beautiful botanical images found in more than two centuries of Curtis's Botanical Magazine. The majority of titles in this collection are included in the University of Minnesota Libraries online catalog, MNCAT.

This collection is available for research with an appointment.