The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is pleased to announce the completion of the cataloguing of Professor Mary Gibby’s archive! This marks an important first step in preserving and sharing Professor Gibby’s work.

This collection documents Professor Mary Gibby’s research and professional activities throughout the earlier and mid stages of her career (c.1970-2000), prior to her appointment at RBGE. Unfortunately, due to flooding in 2021, RBGE does not hold much material pertaining to her time as Director of Science from 2000-2012.

The material reflects her work as a botanist and pteridologist, with a particular emphasis on fern taxonomy, cytology, and evolutionary studies. The collection includes extensive research notes, photography, and chromosome count data that demonstrate her methodological approaches and scientific contributions. These materials provide valuable insight into her processes of data collection, analysis, and interpretation, and represent a significant resource for understanding developments in pteridological research during this period. Overall, the collection offers significant insight into her early career and her wider impact on botanical science.

The Catalogue

The archive (reference code: GBY) has been catalogued according to minimal ISAD(G) standards and the majority has been described at item level.

The catalogue is organised in the following categories:

Correspondence, includes copies of other people’s correspondence, particularly Prof. Tadeus Reichstein’s

Photography, mostly images of chromosomes but also some images from conferences and includes Prof. Gibby’s 35mm slide collection containing over 2000 slides

Notebooks containing data and notes, mostly chromosome counts

Chromosome preps (glass slides), mostly Asplenium & Dryopteris

Documents relating to the Killarney & Guernsey Fern Projects

Various other documents such as conference publications, data and notes, illustrations and maps

Plant material, with plans to be mounted and placed in RBGE’s herbarium



The catalogue is available for viewing now along with a finding aid, through RBGE Archive’s catalogue on AtoM: https://atom-2.rbge.org.uk/index.php/gibby-mary-collection

Potentially, there is plenty more work that could be done on Gibby’s archive, such as the recording of all collection numbers in her notes and photography so we can link these to specimens. Someone with knowledge of Professor Gibby’s work and/or who also works with similar material and data is also needed to improve and expand the catalogue entries. We welcome any help, corrections or suggestions that will allow us to improve the catalogue entries.

Access

RBGE would like to welcome anyone interested in viewing this collection in person to make an appointment with our Library and Archives team. For more information visit: https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-thelibrary/

Please note, some material may be restricted to comply with GDPR regulations.

Acknowledgements

RBGE wishes to thank Mary’s family for their generous donation of the material and the funding for the cataloguing project which was undertaken by Courtney Kemnitz in 2025-2026.

NOTE: Material may still be added to the archive in the future.

Courtney Kemnitz is the author of this post.