Magnificent Trees of the New York Botanical Garden

Magnificent Trees celebrates the 30,000 specimens that adorn the landscape of The New York Botanical Garden, some in groves, some in dense forests, and others standing in solitary majesty. Lavishly illustrated with photographs by Lawrence Lederman accompanied by descriptions by Todd Forrest, Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections at the Garden, the book is a fitting tribute the Garden, a National Historic Landmark recognized throughout the world for stewardship and connoisseurship of its vast collections. Photographs include landscape views that convey the Garden's genius loci, tree portraits that illustrate the architecture and visual imact of selected trees, details of flowers, fruit, bark, and leaves, and impressionistic images, abstract in character but beautiful in composition.

The photographs, which illustrate the trees in all seasons and weathers, are culled from thousands of images that Lederman has taken over the past seven years. Of his project he writes: "Trees live for and in response to the light. The ever-changing nature of light means that even if you are photographing the same tree day after day, the experience is different each time. Together the trees are the bones of the Garden. Many of them were present long before the metes and bounds of the Garden were set and, along with the exemplary specimen trees, make the Garden unique."

Mr. Forrest's essay, "Rare Sylvan Beauties: The Trees of the New York Botanical Garden," will describe the evolution of the tree collections and the on-going efforts to maintain their health in the face of environmental change.

Magnificent Trees celebrates the 30,000 specimens that adorn the landscape of The New York Botanical Garden, a National Historic Landmark. This new visual tribute features lavish photographs by Larry Lederman accompanied by descriptions by Todd Forrest, Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections at the Garden.

Trees evoke wonder in all who observe them. They are at once visions of majesty, and symbols of shelter and peace. The beauty inherent in trees is both perennial and ever-changing; their shapes and colors transform in every change of season, in every sunrise and sunset. The New York Botanical Garden is recognized throughout the world for stewardship and connoisseurship of its vast collections, some in forests, some in groves, and some standing in solitary majesty.

An authority on the diverse species present in the garden, Todd Forrest writes vividly about the Garden's past, detailing the incredible histories of the trees in the collection--from their vital role in Native American life and culture, to their wartime function as neutral territory during the Revolutionary War.

Each tree has a story to tell, and just as Forrest gives their collective past words, Lederman captures their grandeur in hundreds of stunning images. He portrays the diversity of this collection with photographs that reveal the trees in a myriad of fascinating perspectives: in landscape views that convey the Garden's genius loci; portraits illustrating the architecture and profound visual impact of selected trees; remarkable details of flowers, fruit, bark and leaves; and impressionistic images, abstract in character but beautiful in composition.

Larry Lederman has been photographing landscapes for the past ten years, with a focus on The New York Botanical Garden, where he is a member of the Board of Advisers. In addition to inclusion in private and corporate collections, his work has been exhibited in the Ross Gallery at the Garden;  at the landmark Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City; and at Olana, historic home of famed Hudson River painter Frederic Edwin Church. A well-known attorney, Lederman is Counsel to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, where he was Chairman of the firm's Global Corporate Practice. He is a distinguished adjunct professor at New York Law School and the author of Tombstones: A Lawyer's Tales from the Takeover Decades, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Lederman lives in New York City and Westchester, New York.