A Treasure Arrives in the Library

Not long ago a small, carefully wrapped package was sent to the library. A hand-written note accompanied the special gift – a pocket-sized album of pressed flower collages from the Holy Land. The donor acknowledged his appreciation for the society’s library.

The album has a wooden cover with detailed, decorative color engraving surrounding Hebrew letters and the word Jerusalem. Captions on each page are printed in Hebrew, French, German and English. A little online research reveals that the album’s cover is olivewood and that the album was likely published circa 1904. In fact many such albums were produced to cater to visitors to the area.

This little treasure will be displayed in the fall at the annual show of The American Society of Botanical Artists.

Katherine Powis, HSNY Librarian