LuEsther T. Mertz Library

Establishment An act of the New York State Legislature, passed in 1891, set aside land within Bronx Park in the north-central part of the Bronx for the creation of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) on the condition that a board of directors raise $250,000 ($ in today's dollars) for the site. Prominent civic leaders and financiers agreed to match the City's commitment to finance the buildings and improvements. but the plans for the NYBG had not been finalized. The Board of Directors then asked landscape architect Calvert Vaux and his partner, Parks Superintendent Samuel Parsons Jr., to consult on site selection. A topographical survey was completed in March 1896. As part of the topographical survey, a three-story museum with of space was planned for the grounds of the NYBG, near the main entrance at Southern Boulevard and Bedford Park Boulevard. It would be the first museum in the U.S. with a collection focused specifically and exclusively on botany. The board selected the museum site for its hilltop location east of the Botanical Garden station of the New York Central Railroad (now Metro-North Railroad), which made the building easily accessible from other locations. A design contest for the museum was held, attracting firms and architects like Ernest Flagg, William Appleton Potter, N. Le Brun & Sons, Parish & Schroeder, and Clinton & Russell. Construction By July 1897, construction was delayed due to disputes over whether the presence of the museum and the NYBG conservatory would detract from the naturalistic look of the rest of the garden. The New York City Board of Estimate again blocked the $500,000 appropriation in mid-September 1897, citing the concerns about the building's aesthetics and possible cost overruns, before approving it at the end of that month. A request for bids was opened, and 12 contractors submitted construction bids the following month, with the John H. Parker Company submitting the least expensive bid. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 31, 1897, to mark the start of construction. By May 1898, construction had started on the brick walls. The city approved the disbursement of another $200,000 in bonds that November. A contract to build the "front central portico" was carried out between July and October 1899. The NYBG's contract with John H. Parker ended the next month, with work on the end pavilions' ornamentation being delayed. In April 1901, Wilson & Baillie Manufacturing were contracted to build the fountain at the Museum Building's main entrance, as well as the front approaches and cornice ornamentation. Then in 1958, Eggers & Higgins proposed a $1 million ($ in today's dollars), three-story annex behind the existing structure, with a similar design to the original building. The wing was to include classrooms, conference rooms, offices, and reading rooms. In 1964, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. approved the plan, with the city and NYBG contributing equally toward the cost. The original rear wing behind the central pavilion was destroyed. and opened in 1966. Additionally, the original building's front staircase and its balustrade and sidewalls were renovated from 1960 to 1961. By February 1988, the herbarium had taken up all of the vacant space in the original structure, including rooms formerly dedicated to exhibitions. As a result, NYBG officials planned for a four-story expansion to the east of the original building's north wing, set to open in 1991. A three-month restoration of the rotunda was completed in November 1988, and a new orchid terrarium was dedicated. The addition of the northern annex was delayed in 1992, when the NYBG announced that the annex would cost $32 million ($ in today's dollars) and be completed in 1994. A one-story annex to the south, housing the herbarium specimens, was designed by Coe Lee Robinson Roesch and finished in 1994. When plans for the northern annex were finalized in 1997, the project was expected to cost $39 million. The original building's rotunda was restored as well. Construction started in 1998, and though the expansion was originally supposed to be complete in 2000, == Design ==

The original Mertz Library building was designed by Robert W. Gibson; its main facade is long. The side facades, as noted in the building plans, measured on one end and on the other. rising above the third floor. On the front facade facing west, the central pavilion has rusticated stone and a pediment supported by four Corinthian columns, which divide the central pavilion into three bays. At the first floor level, there are three sets of doors, one in each bay. The end sections also have pilasters in the Corinthian style. Original plans called for it to also include a green wall on the facade. to 7.8 million specimens. The Science and Education Building contains offices, educational and environmental facilities, and a greenhouse used to simulate environments for plants. It is connected to the original building by a passage at its northwest end, and is used by the NYBG's School of Professional Horticulture. Herbarium specimens are stored in the one-story annex that connects directly to the south wing of the original building. == Associated structures ==

Fountain of Life The Fountain of Life, in front of the library's main entrance, was designed by Carl Tefft and completed in 1905. The central focus of the fountain are the heroic nude sculpted figures atop a granite pedestal. These figures include two horses, both with webbed forefeet; a female sitting astride one of the horses; a boy attempting to control the other horse while holding a fish; and another boy sitting on a dolphin's back. Within the basin of the fountain is a bronze merman on a crab, and a bronze mermaid, both with startled expressions. At the time of ''Fountain of Life's'' commission, there were very few statues of horses with webbed forefeet. The fountain and statue were included in the original plans for the Museum Building in 1897, but except for the granite pedestal, the statue was not completed with the original building in 1900. That year, NYBG held a design contest for the proposed bronze statue, but all of the submitted designs were rejected. The statue was completed in May 1905 and installed that July. Avenue In 1901, a contract was given to Wilson & Baillie Manufacturing Company for the paving and grading of a road and tree-lined avenue leading to the museum building. This was completed in 1902. These were removed in the 1950s with the construction of a laboratory building at that site. Other components of the avenue included Carolina poplars, planted in 1903, and tulip trees, planted in 1905 between each pair of poplars. The poplars were removed by 1911. The paths were re-graded in 1904 and now have benches, an asphalt surface, and concrete curbs. ==Head librarians==

• D.T. MacDougal (acting librarian, 1899) • Anna Murray Vail (January 1900 – September 1907) • James J. Daly, Administrative Librarian (1960 – 1961) • Robert Jones, Administrative Librarian, 1962 • Mulford Martin, Acting Senior Curator of the Library (1964 – 1965) • John F. Reed, Curator of the Library (1965 – 1971) • Charles R. Long, Administrative Librarian (1972 – 1986) • John F. Reed, VP for Education and Director of the Library (November 1992 – June 2003) • Susan Fraser, Director of the Library (2004 – 2020) • Lawrence Kelly, Interim Director of the Library (2020 – 2023) • Rhonda Evans, Director of the Library (2023 – Present) ==Collection==

At the time of opening, the Mertz Library was the largest botanical library in the U.S. and one of the largest botanical libraries worldwide. The collection grew both through the purchase of books and through the donation of significant botanical and horticultural libraries from notable botanists, gardeners, scientists and book collectors. Other items were collected from NYBG expeditions abroad. The items in the collection include rare plant books such as two copies of the Circa Instans (dated circa 1190 and 1275). Among the personal collections to be given to the LuEsther T. Mertz Library are donations from: • Eleanor Cross Marquand • Sarah Gildersleeve Fife • Lucien Marcus Underwood • Robert Hiester Montgomery • Emil Starkenstein • John Torrey • Harriet Barnes Pratt • David Hosack ==References==