The Miller Library has an outstanding collection of books on ferns, both old and new. On display from January 4th to 28th will be a selection of favorites by the Curator of Horticultural Literature, Brian Thompson. Many of these books were gifts from the Hardy Fern Foundation, a local organization founded in 1989 that has a large international membership of fern fanciers.
Ferns are found throughout the world and so are the books about them. The exhibit includes, for example, books specific to the ferns of Hong Kong, Tasmania, Scandinavia, Yunnan, Mexico, and New Zealand. An especially beautiful book is
Les Fougères et Plantes Alliées de France et d'Europe Occidentale (translation: Ferns and allied plants of France and western Europe) by Rémy Prelli. Although the text is written in French, the images are understandable by speakers of any language.
Other books chronicle the history of fern discovery, including the many unusual mutations that can be found in nature and then propagated by keen gardeners. Taking advantage of the mostly two-dimensional fronds, these different forms has been preserved in the creation of fern albums of pressed specimens, or by crafting precise illustrations using a technique called nature printing. Many of these practices rose during the frenzy of the British Victorian era obsession, delightfully described in
Fern Fever: The Story of Pteridomania by Sarah Whittingham.
Authors of fern books range from the first director of Britain’s Kew Gardens (William Hooker) to the first botany professor at the University of Washington (Theodore Frye). The first field guide to ferns in the United States was written by Frances Theodora Parsons in 1899.
How to Know the Ferns: A Guide to the Names, Haunts, and Habits of Our Common Ferns is also noteworthy for being written and illustrated – including pen-and-ink drawings, photographs, and the cover design – by women.
We are fortunate to have several excellent fern books by authors from the Pacific Northwest. The best of these, and an important book for any gardener in a temperate climate, is
Encyclopedia of Garden Ferns by Sue Olsen, one of the founders of the Hardy Fern Foundation.
In conjunction with this exhibit, Brian will present a webinar for the Northwest Horticultural Society on the rarer fern books in the Miller Library collection, especially those published during the Victorian fern craze. This presentation will be on Wednesday, January 25 from 6:30-8:00 pm. More details and registration are available at
https://northwesthort.org/event/victorian-fern-craze-with-brian-thompson/.
Need some pointers for navigating your first research project of the quarter? We're happy to help you find materials on a drop-in basis whenever the library is open. Saturdays the library is open 9 am to 3 pm, and Mondays we're open 9 am to 8 pm. Tuesday-Friday you'll find librarians on duty 9 to 5. If you'd like a one-on-one meeting with a librarian who can teach you how to find journal articles and other resources to pursue your topic efficiently and successfully, just email
