Nebula Gallery in the Library Exhibits Belsterling Blooms: Selections from the Louise B. Belsterling Botanical Collection


Come see botanical beauty at its best this month and next in the Eugene McDermott Library. Large, bold and beautiful illustrations of an assortment of rich, stunning flowers, such as tulips and sunflowers, line the walls of the Nebula Gallery, located in the library’s Special Collections and Archives Division as part of an exhibit called “Belsterling Blooms.”

Belsterling Blooms aims to shed light on the breadth of botanical material found within the library’s Louise B. Belsterling Collection, an assortment of rare botanical and horticultural books named for Louise B. Belsterling, whose personal library formed the basis of the collection.

Nebula Gallery visitors can view a curated selection of plates from four titles ranging from the mid-18th to the mid-19th century. The highlighted images were chosen for their hand-colored illustrations and remarkable vibrancy. All displayed plates can be found within the Collection, although for presentation, they have been digitally enlarged and augmented.

The plates included in the exhibit are from the following titles:
The Ladies’ Flower-Garden of Ornamental Annuals, 1840
Flora Londinensis, 1777
The Compleat Florist, 1747
The New Botanic Garden, 1812

The Nebula Gallery is a new addition to the library and is located in the lobby of Special Collections on the third floor in 3.504. If you would like information on how to get your art displayed in the gallery, contact Cassandra Zawojek at 972-883-3855 or cassandra.zawojek@utdallas.edu.

Belsterling Blooms was curated by Madeline Hoff, a curator in Special Collections. Visit the Nebula Gallery between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. from May 6 through June 21, 2019.

Page Last Updated: November 6, 2023