Steenbock Library is pleased to invite you to browse The Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada currently on display, with selected additional texts to theme, across from our main entrance. This handsome, seven volume set, which was donated to our Libraries by author, Dan Bussey and editor, Kent Whealy (JAK KAW Press, LLC), presents a comprehensive listing of apple varieties as have been identified through texts from the United States and Canada (through 2000). Each entry provides a description of the apple variety (if available in the literature), notes on its origin, history and local identity (synonyms for the variety by region), as well as references in which that variety appears within the literature-surveyed including horticultural and pomological society proceedings, government and experiment station bulletins, and commercial nursery catalogs. Each volume is also illustrated with selections from the USDAs’ Pomological Watercolor collection.

Remarkable to the story of this illustrated history of apples is the 30 years of dedicated research and the additional several years of editing required by author and editor to bring this opus into fruition. During those 30 years, the author visited archives, historical societies, libraries and research centers throughout the United States and Canada. Our Steenbock staff is delighted to have had its collections serve this astounding achievement.

Texts from our displayed collections can circulate to library users. Please contact our librarians for assistance locating related literature. You can also browse selected titles from our collections on Pinterest.

Photo by Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service.