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A 19th-century book on Latin American orchids prompts a personal reflection on the vulnerability and resiliency of plants, the art of botanical illustration, and the power of portraits as markers of cultural memory. The long history between humans and orchids is sometimes fraught but is still unfolding.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, an obsession spread among bibliophiles for extra-illustrating or grangerizing books. Readers would supplement the pages of an already published book by inserting prints and related materials acquired from other sources. This process would often result in a huge expansion of the original volume.
What may be the first aerial photographs of Pasadena, captured in 1909, were the product of a risky—almost disastrous—undertaking. When photographer Harold A. Parker was on the balloon American, he took photos of the city from the air. But the journey became harrowing when the balloon flew off course.
Library Collections
![Detail of Dotrina christiana en le[n]gua Española y Mexicana](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser_card/public/grid-detail/lib-hisp_500.jpg.webp?itok=Dj1D97t8)
Using the Library
Every year, researchers from over 30 countries make more than 20,000 visits to the Library’s reading rooms, and thousands more make use of the Library’s virtual services and digital collections.
Highlights from the Collections
Programs and Stories
About the Library
- One of the world’s largest collections of British medieval manuscripts, including the 15th-century Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
- One of 12 surviving copies on vellum of the Gutenberg Bible, the jewel of the second-largest collection of incunabula (15th-century printed books) in the United States.
- A leading repository for Americana, including extensive holdings for Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson, and such gems as the original manuscript of Franklin’s autobiography.
- Extensive collections on the American West, including the great 19th-century photographic surveys and original sources about overland migration, industry and transport, and Native Americans.