BRIT Library
The BRIT Library supports botanical research and education in Texas and around the world. Our collection has been carefully curated and is a valuable research tool for those studying systematic botany, horticulture, natural history and ethnobotany. The BRIT Library houses one of the largest and finest collections of botanical works in the southwestern United States.
BRIT Library Hours
The BRIT Library collection is non-circulating, meaning you cannot take materials home with you, but library is open for public use by appointment Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. Please contact BRIT Library beforehand to ensure someone will be available to assist you during your visit.
Open by appointment, from 10 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday.
About BRIT Library
The BRIT Library, with approximately 125,000 volumes, is an extensive and exhaustive collection of botanical books and journals, particularly taxonomic works. It is especially valuable in researching the historical aspects of botany and is a valuable tool assisting the modern researcher.
The personal collections of Dr. Lloyd H. Shinners and Dr. Eula Whitehouse formed the nucleus of the library.
Housed in a special room where temperature and humidity are carefully controlled are centuries-old encyclopedic works, floras, monographs, and reprints.
Journals, serials, and modern monographs are kept in an adjacent room. Twentieth century holdings include biographies and works in botany and gardening. The library contains basic reference works in systematic botany, including such standards as Index Kewensis, Index Londinensis, the Bradley Bibliography, and the printed catalogues of libraries such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Lindley, and the Arnold Arboretum.
The library is especially rich in the taxonomic literature of botany and horticulture in the last half of the 18th and 19th centuries. That period is considered the Golden Age of gardening in its broadest sense. It was also the Golden Age of gardening literature, and many of these works are literary classics in their own right.
The 16th and 17th centuries represent an era of the unfolding of botany and horticulture, of their development and refinement from the medieval arts and crafts of medicine and agriculture. This is the time of the classic herbals, tomes of Materia Medica, and dainty, specialized books on the art of perfumery. The great explorers and their voyages and expeditions took place during this period, and the library includes many volumes treating these subjects.
The library exists to support the taxonomic research done by the botanists of BRIT and visiting botanical researchers and to support the varied programs sponsored and hosted by BRIT. The scientific reference collection includes materials valuable for research and systematic botany, particularly those with descriptions of new species. The remainder of the collection has been carefully selected to represent a comprehensive library of scientific books and publications primarily for naming and classifying plants.
It is one of the largest and finest collections of botanical literature in the southwestern United States. Foremost among the programs sponsored by BRIT is that of the Science Education Program. Students and teachers use books from BRIT’s library to enrich their studies and to reach a fuller understanding of the value of plants.
Library Inventory
Currently, the BRIT botany library contains approximately 125,000 volumes of scientific and taxonomic books, periodicals, and journals from more than 90 countries representing the majority of the world’s written languages. The nucleus of the library was formed from the personal collections assembled by Dr. Lloyd H. Shinners and Dr. Eula Whitehouse. Dr. Shinners specifically collected books he felt were most important for research and systematic botany, mainly those with descriptions of new species.
The remainder of the collection has been carefully selected to represent a comprehensive library of scientific and taxonomic books and publications primarily for naming and classifying plants. It is one of the largest and finest collections of botanical literature in the Southwestern United States.
Housed in the BRIT library are journals, series, encyclopedic works, cultivated works, floras, monographs, and reprints. Twentieth-century holdings include works in botany (floras), gardening, and biographies. The basic reference works in systematic botany of this century are available including such standards as Index Kewensis (alphabetical index to published names of seed plants world-wide, citing original publication since 1753), Index Londinensis (index to illustrations of plants from 1753 to 1935), Bradley Bibliography (guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world before 1900), and printed catalogues of such great libraries as Kew, Lindley, and Arnold Arboretum.
The library is especially rich in taxonomic literature on botany and horticulture of the 19th and latter half of the 18th centuries, the Golden Age of gardening in its broadest sense. Holdings of the 16th and 17th centuries include volumes detailing expeditions of various explorers, botany, horticulture, and medical botany. The 16th and 17th centuries were the years of gestation for botany and horticulture; they arose as refinements of knowledge from the arts and crafts of medieval medicine and agriculture.
The flower garden and the use of plants for their ornamental value developed from this periods. These are the years of herbals, of the works on farming techniques, of tomes on material medica, of descriptions of exotics and directives for growing them, and of books on feminine health and well being. BRIT’s oldest book is a 1549 edition of De Materia Medica, written by Discorides, a Greek physician in the first century A.D. (Ref: The Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt Botanical Library, 1961).
Search the Library’s Catalog
Access to the collection has been physically and intellectually improved. Physical access has been improved by shifting selected portions of the collection and working to reduce the backlog of duplicate books and journals that have accumulated over the years. Intellectual access has been enhanced by bringing together bibliographic information and merging that information into a combined database available to all. Bibliographic records from SMU’s catalog and from the OCLC Union Catalog were added to catalog records developed at BRIT.
All of the cataloged material in BRIT’s collection is now in one database.
Access to the collection is provided by a catalog searchable at BRIT or anywhere Internet access is available. The catalog uses the traditional author, title, and subject search keys. Nearly the entire botany library, with over 20,000 unique titles, is currently available via the BRIT’s home page or through computers in-house.
BRIT Reads Book Club
If you love to read and you’re passionate about botany, natural history, sustainability, and other similar topics, then join us for the BRIT Reads Book Club. This informal group meets from noon – 1 pm in the second floor Oak Conference Room at BRIT. Bring your lunch and a friend and tell us what you thought about the book of the month.
No time to read but still want to hear what people have to say about a particular book? No problem! We’d love to have you listen, learn, and participate.
Please email library@brit.org if you’re interested in joining the book club’s mailing list.
Carousel items
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The Sherwin Carlquist Collection
The Sherwin Carlquist Collection encapsulates more than 30 years of important botanical research conducted by the renowned mid-century American botanist.
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The Oliver G. Burk Children’s Collection
The Oliver G. Burk Children’s collection is a treasure of both rare and new books on botany and natural history.
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Library Archives Collection
The BRIT Library houses one of the largest and finest collections of botanical works in the southwestern United States.
-
Rare Book Room Collection
The Discovery Fund Rare Book Room includes an exceptional collection of books and limited-edition items, some of which were published over 200 years ago and are fragile, scarce, or valuable.
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The Arader Natural History Collection of Art
As one of the newer additions to the Library, the Arader Natural History Collection of Art celebrates art, science, and the beauty of plants and nature.
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The Stansbery Collection for Botanical Art
Through the generosity of Will and Kay Stansbery, the BRIT library offers access to a collection of books focusing on botanical art and illustration, and art history.
-
Discovery Resources
Explore a curated collection of educational and digital resources from the BRIT Library and beyond.
-
BRIT Library History
In large measure, the library of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas owes its existence to Lloyd H. Shinners and his vision of the future.
-
Participate
In a world of increasing demands and shrinking dollars, you can also support our mission by sponsoring specific resources and preservation efforts.
-
The Sherwin Carlquist Collection
The Sherwin Carlquist Collection encapsulates more than 30 years of important botanical research conducted by the renowned mid-century American botanist.
-
The Oliver G. Burk Children’s Collection
The Oliver G. Burk Children’s collection is a treasure of both rare and new books on botany and natural history.
-
Library Archives Collection
The BRIT Library houses one of the largest and finest collections of botanical works in the southwestern United States.
-
Rare Book Room Collection
The Discovery Fund Rare Book Room includes an exceptional collection of books and limited-edition items, some of which were published over 200 years ago and are fragile, scarce, or valuable.
-
The Arader Natural History Collection of Art
As one of the newer additions to the Library, the Arader Natural History Collection of Art celebrates art, science, and the beauty of plants and nature.
-
The Stansbery Collection for Botanical Art
Through the generosity of Will and Kay Stansbery, the BRIT library offers access to a collection of books focusing on botanical art and illustration, and art history.
-
Discovery Resources
Explore a curated collection of educational and digital resources from the BRIT Library and beyond.
-
BRIT Library History
In large measure, the library of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas owes its existence to Lloyd H. Shinners and his vision of the future.
-
Participate
In a world of increasing demands and shrinking dollars, you can also support our mission by sponsoring specific resources and preservation efforts.
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