The Book Under A Spell
Under the warm spring sunlight, the magnificent pairing of the New York Botanical Garden Library and the magnolia shines brightly. My book, Asking the Way in the Garden, has been cataloged as part of the Library’s collection.
How did this happen? A reader from somewhere west of the Rocky Mountains visited the New York Botanical Garden Library and sought me out, saying she was a great admirer of my book. Unfortunately, I was off that day. A few days later, a librarian emailed me a digital copy of the visitor’s handwritten note and asked whether the Library might register my book in its collection. I then “generously” donated a copy. To the honored guest who came all the way from Oregon, I offer my sincere thanks.
I was later asked to review the cataloging information. Upon examining it, I noticed numerous diacritical marks over the vowel “o,” which at first led me to think it might be a language from Southeast Asia. It turned out to be a romanization system used to transcribe Korean pronunciation into the Roman alphabet. Even so, the romanized title appears rather extreme: “Chŏngwŏn esŏ kil ŭl murŏtta: Nyuyok Singmurwŏn kadŭnŏ ŭi singmul kwa yŏngsŏng iyagi / Yi Sŏng-hŭi chiŭm.”
Thus, the book, as if placed under a spell, remains in the library stacks. Hidden within that beautiful building, as though forgotten for a hundred or even a thousand years, it waits for the moment when someone, for the first time, checks it out and turns its pages. Only then, perhaps, will the spell be lifted, and the first edition will finally be sold out.
One hundred years, two hundred years, three hundred years—will the magnolia that has long stood guard over this place live to witness that day?
The magnicence of the library and Korean magnolia (Magnolia kobus) shine brightly.
LuEsther T. Mertz Library of New York Botanical Garden is United States' largest botanical research library,
and the first library whose collection focused exclusively on botany.
