Library Bagging with CILIPS East – Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Library and Archives
Branch: East Branch | Category: Blog, Branches and Groups
Many thanks to Julie Sutherland for blogging about the recent CILIPS East visit to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) Library and Archives:
What a fantastic morning we spent with Lorna Mitchell, Head of Library Services at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) Library and Archives on June 2nd 2018.
Our intrepid explorers learnt about the history of the garden: its various locations around Edinburgh from its pioneering beginnings as Scotland’s first physic garden at Holyrood Park to its current home at Inverleith and its reputation as being at the “forefront of plant science and horticulture”[1].
We enjoyed a tour of the collections and were heartily encouraged to spread the word that the library, archives and its facilities are open to the public and not just for researchers and academics.
The first delight that Lorna had in store for us was an amazing 15th Century monograph, sadly damaged by bookworms: but, excitingly (for us) its poor condition, and the existence in the collection of a better-preserved copy, meant that we were allowed to handle it!
My favourite delights that Lorna had selected for us to enjoy close up included beautifully illustrated teaching diagrams used by Regius Keeper John Hutton Balfour, nature prints (where the plant specimen itself is used to create the image) and a selection of the incredible botanical illustrations by Lillian Snelling.
Lorna chatted about the complex process of choosing which parts of the collection to conserve, showing us examples of illustrations that historically had been folded for storage into filing cabinets and now needing expertise in restoring to a single flat sheet.
Before we escaped, our passports were stamped and Lorna delighted us all with a selection of freebies for us to take away – what a lovely end to our visit. Some of us escaped to the pub for a ‘botanical’ beverage, which is fast becoming a feature of our post-bag glow. All are welcome to join us after our next bag at the Scottish Poetry Library!
Lastly, a shout out to Central Branch for sharing their excellent idea of Library Bagging!
Julie
[1] Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Regius Keeper, Simon Milne, MBE.
