Читать книгу Writing the Garden - Elizabeth Barlow Rogers - Страница 4

It gives us great pleasure to present Writing the Garden: Books from the Collections of The New York Society Library & Elizabeth Barlow Rogers to our members and the public at large. The exhibition, which opened on May 12, 2011, in the Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery, was co-curated by Harriet Shapiro, the New York Society Library’s Head of Exhibitions, and Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, the author of the book you now hold in your hands.

A few words about the history of the New York Society Library are in order here. Founded in 1754 by six prominent New Yorkers—William Smith Jr., William Livingston, John Morin Scott, Philip Livingston, Robert R. Livingston, Sr., and William Alexander—it is the city’s oldest library. Its first home was in the “Library Room” at City Hall; then as the residential city moved uptown from the tip of Manhattan, it relocated in 1856 to 67 University Place and, finally, in 1937 to its current building designed by Trowbridge and Livingston at 53 East 79th Street. Over time the library’s collection has grown from approximately 2,000 books to more than 300,000. Among these are numerous volumes on subjects related to gardens and gardening, a number of which are recognized as literary gems.

Elizabeth Barlow Rogers’s career as a park preservationist, author, and collector of rare books on landscape history, garden design, and horticulture should also be outlined in brief. As many New Yorkers know, Rogers is a principal founder of the Central Park Conservancy, the public-private partnership responsible for transforming Central Park from a state of severe disrepair to its present status as New York City’s crown jewel. She subsequently founded the Foundation for Landscape Studies and currently serves as its president. Her books include The Forests and Wetlands of New York City (1971), Frederick Law Olmsted’s New York (1972), Rebuilding Central Park: A Management and Restoration Plan (1987), Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architectural History (2001), and Romantic Gardens: Nature, Art, and Landscape Design (2010). In addition, she is the editor of the journal Site/Lines, a publication of the Foundation for Landscape Studies.

I am grateful to Elizabeth Barlow Rogers for her essential role in this project. In addition, I appreciate the support of the boards of the New York Society Library and the Foundation for Landscape Studies, the sponsors of the publication of this book in association with David R. Godine, Publisher. Finally, the library thanks Deborah S. Pease for her support of the exhibition and book.

Mark Bartlett

HEAD LIBRARIAN

THE NEW YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY