Library Terms and Conditions

 

The Royal Horticultural Society library constitutes one of the world’s most important collections of material relating to the history of horticulture and botanical art. As part of our commitment to improving access to our collections, we are making many of our collections freely available to view online, to students, researchers and the general public.

The material featured on RHS Digital Collections is primarily intended for non-commercial use including private study, teaching, learning and research.

  • Material that is out of copyright, including where the copyright has expired, is marked as Public Domain. Users are permitted to copy, modify, and distribute works marked as Public Domain, without the need to seek permission.
  • Orphan Works cover those materials where we have been unable to identify or make contact with a copyright holder. Material marked as orphan works are published under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Users are permitted to use these materials for non-commercial purposes only. Users must also give an appropriate credit using the supplied credit line. Please refer to our takedown policy on copyright ownership claims of orphan works on our website.
  • Material that is marked copyright of the Royal Horticultural Society is published under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Users are permitted to use these materials for non-commercial purposes only. Users must also give an appropriate credit using the supplied credit line.
  • Material published under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial No Derivatives license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0): Users are permitted to use these materials for non-commercial purposes only, provided the material is not modified in any way. Users must also give an appropriate credit using the supplied credit line.

Reuse

  • The use of digital images for these purposes remains freely accessible and without charge. We ask that anyone reusing digital images from our collections adheres to the following principles:
  • Please respect the creators, and ensure that you use their works in an ethical manner that will not cause offence to the creators or their communities, or to any traditional cultural forms of expression
  • Please credit the source of the material where appropriate, using the credit line provided, and a link to the image on this site where possible.

Herbarium Terms and Conditions

1851 Royal Commission Herbarium online

It is the Royal Horticultural Society herbarium’s aim to make its specimens freely accessible to its members and researchers for non-commercial use.

The RHS herbarium is one of only a very few in the world to specialise in cultivated plants, holding over 90,000 specimens. It is a unique record of British ornamental plants and a vital resource for horticultural research and scientific study.

With generous help from RHS members, the 1851 Royal Commission, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund this collection has been digitised by a team of herbarium curators based at RHS Garden Wisley.

You may make copies of images and data held within the database provided that it is for personal use.

This site is not designed for automated data-mining. Researchers requiring large amounts of data are expected to contact us with details about their project and ways in which we can collaboratively exchange data.

If an image is required for publication (in any format), an application must be made to [email protected] to secure reproduction rights. Permission to reproduce images is dependent on full acceptance of our terms and conditions:

  • 1. The acknowledgement ‘Image © The Royal Horticultural Society’ will appear in the caption/credit line
  • 2. Specimens are to be cited with a URL link to the relevant page on this website, and the date [day month year] on which they were accessed
  • 3. Images are only to be used by the applicant in research papers and presentations, uncropped, unless specific permission has been given
  • 4. It is expected that the herbarium will be provided with either a copy of the publication, or a link to the online publication where our image(s) appear
  • 5. All permissions granted are non-exclusive, and a new application must be made for any further publication of the image.

Reproduction rights

If you would like to reproduce images for the purpose of publication, please contact the RHS Lindley Library or the Herbarium in our ‘Enquiries’ section below with the following information provided in your email:

  • Your full name, email and address/institution
  • An outline of the research project and/or use of the images
  • Details of the planned publication in which the images are intended to be published
  • List of the images to be reproduced
  • Please also confirm that you will accept our terms and conditions as stated on this page.

Enquiries

For enquiries relating to:

The RHS may charge fees for digital files that are to be used for editorial or commercial purposes, or for high-resolution files suitable for professional print reproduction.