Last week I stopped by the library at the Cleveland Botanical Garden (CBG) and learned about the upcoming sale of botanical art books, rare prints, and posters which is happening this Saturday December10th in the Eleanor Squire Library. Each year the library has this sale to help raise funds for CBG.
I got a sneak peak at some of the prints, which included some hand colored lithographs, some rare Mary Vaux Walcott prints and some original seed catalogue prints. Gary Esmonde, librarian explained to me that the Walcott prints are extremely rare. They come from a 5 volume set and are rarely split up, either as books or as individual prints.
I got a look at some of the smaller prints that are for sale which included some prints from the late 1800’s, and were various plants and flowers. You could see the plate marks on the print, and the fine lithograph lines lend a quality of detail only seen in prints. One of my favorite prints included a lithograph of a Picotee flower, which has lots of petals in an interesting arrangement.
Some of the books for sale have 30-40 prints inside of them (so you could split the book up later if you want a series of prints), and there are over 160 single prints that will be on display and for sale.
Want to buys some prints – or just take a peek at some interesting botanical prints and books? The sale is open from 10am-5pm, and is free with CBG admission.
For more information, call 216 707-2812 or contact librarian Gary Esmonde at [email protected].
Image Source:
Prints from the CBG library
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