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Lord and Burnham: Recommended Reading

Lord and Burnham greenhouse plans, books and images at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, New York Botanical Garden.
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Lord & Burnham at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library

Library Holdings

Lord and Burnham Co. catalog of greenhouses

The LuEsther T. Mertz Library at The New York Botanical Garden has extensive holdings both from and about the Lord & Burnham Company through its lifetime, and works on glasshouses and architecture. The library houses publications and periodicals related to Lord & Burnham. Included in the collection are works about the company's history, the structures and designs created by Lord & Burnham, guides for greenhouses, and handbooks about gardening. A selection of titles from the library catalog and published by Lord & Burnham Company are listed in a column on the right-hand side of this LibGuide. 

The library collection also has many titles about the design, history, and use of greenhouses and conservatories. A selection of titles with links to the catalog can be found in the column on the right-hand side of this LibGuide. These include works on amateur gardening in greenhouses, a survey of garden design, a history of conservatories, and guides to growing plants indoors.

In 2005 the LuEsther T. Mertz Library opened Glasshouses: The Architecture of Light and Air, an exhibit that detailed three centures of the history and development of glasshouses. The exhibit drew from the library's collections and featured drawings, prints, paintings, photographs, and illustrated books. Glasshouses focused on the history of glasshouses, the glasshouse in America, glasshouses at The New York Botanical Garden, and the Lord & Burnham Company. An exhibition catalog was produced as a companion to the exhibit and is available at the library. 

 

Archival Holdings

Lord & Burnham greenhouse
The archival holdings from the Lord & Burnham Company include architectural drawings, correspondence, and account books for greenhouses, conservatories, and related structures erected in the United States in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries by the Lord & Burnham Company and by other manufacturers associated with the firm. The collection contains over 150,000 architectural plans and includes information on structural and site elements for more than 7,000 glass structures. A searchable database serves as the access point to this extensive collection.  

 

Archival Processing Resources

""

The work to organize and catalog the vast number of architectural plans, completed in 2015, took a number of years and involved detailed work on the identification and care of the many photo reproduction processes that were used by Lord & Burnham throughout their history. Eleanore Kissel and Erin Vigneau were among the first to take on the organization of the collection of architectural drawings and plans. As part of their work the pair produced Architectural Photoreproductions: A Manual for Identification and Care, a pioneering work on the different types of production processes used to create and reproduce architectural plans. The manual serves as a guide for identifying, handling, and storing the variety of materials.

Lord & Burnham in the Library Catalog

  • Book CoverLord & Burnham Co. records 1881-1998 (Orlyt greenhouse) by Lord & Burnham Co.
    Publication Date: 1881-1998
  • Book CoverOur one hundred years by Lord & Burnham Co.
    Call Number: SB415.5 .L673
    Publication Date: 1972
  • Book CoverGreenhouses for amateurs by Lord & Burnham Co.
    Call Number: SB416 .L58 1903
    Publication Date: 1903
  • Book CoverCrystal homes for catholic institutions : being a collection of glass gardens erected especially for them. by Lord & Burnham Co.
    Call Number: SB416 .L63
    Publication Date: c.1920

Works on Glasshouses from the Library Catalog

Selected works on the design, history, and use of greenhouses and conservatories from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library

  • Book CoverThe Glasshouse by John Hix
    Call Number: NA4140 .H59 1996
    ISBN: 0714832111
    Publication Date: 1996-11-07
  • Book CoverOrangeries by Michel Saudan
    Call Number: f NA8360 .S28 1998
    ISBN: 3822877654
    Publication Date: 1998-03-01
  • Book CoverInspired by Nature by Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance (Chicago, Ill.) Staff (Contribution by); Jo Ann Nathan; Alex Kotlowitz (Foreword by); Julia S. Bachrach; Brook Collins (Photographer); Julia Sniderman Bachrach
    Call Number: NA8360 .B33 2008
    ISBN: 9780979412509
    Publication Date: 2007-11-30
  • Book CoverParadise under Glass by Ruth Kassinger
    Call Number: NA8360 .K375 2010
    ISBN: 9780061547744
    Publication Date: 2010-04-20
  • Book CoverConservatory and Indoor Plants by Roger Phillips (Contribution by); Martyn Rix (Contribution by); Alison Rix (Contribution by)
    Call Number: SB415 .P45 1997
    ISBN: 0333677374
    Publication Date: 1997-01-01
  • Book CoverGreenhouses and Conservatories by Olivier De Vleeschouwer
    Call Number: SB416 .B7 1984
    ISBN: 208010585X
    Publication Date: 2001-10-05

Contact Us

Library
libref@nybg.org

(718)-817-8827 

 

Archives
archives@nybg.org

 

Plant Information
plantinfo@nybg.org
 

Library Hours

Monday: Closed

Tuesday: 10am - 4pm

Wednesday: 10am - 4pm

Thursday: 10am - 4pm

Friday: 10am - 4pm 

Sat & Sun: Closed 

Lord & Burnham Images

All images come from the archival collection of Lord & Burnham material at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library

Lord and Burnham Co. plans in folio for workroom

Florist facade with greenhouse wings

Tall windows feature flowers in the facade of florist F.R. Pierson

Floor plan and facade of greenhouse. Glass Enclosure Studies Plate No. 9

Drawings for service building, 1908

Grant Funding

This project was made possible in part by a grant from the Documentary Heritage Program of the New York State Archives, a program of the State Education Department.""

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  • Last Updated: Feb 28, 2022 3:41 PM
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