{"id":16996,"date":"2025-10-25T10:39:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T17:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=book&p=16996"},"modified":"2025-12-19T12:39:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T20:39:25","slug":"the-vasculum-or-botanical-collecting-box-symbol-of-the-nineteenth-century-botanist-now-an-obsolete-relic","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/book\/the-vasculum-or-botanical-collecting-box-symbol-of-the-nineteenth-century-botanist-now-an-obsolete-relic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vasculum or Botanical Collecting Box: Symbol of the Nineteenth-Century Botanist, now an Obsolete Relic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you own a vasculum? If you were an active field botanist a century ago, the answer would undoubtedly have been a resounding yes!<\/p>\n

Also known as a botanical box, these cylindrical, metal containers that opened along one side were used for temporary housing of collected plant specimens, protecting them from being crushed. They also provided a humid environment until the plants could be pressed into herbarium specimens.<\/p>\n

\"\"One of the newest and most unusual books in the Miller Library is The Vasculum or Botanical Collecting Box<\/em>,\u00a0which tells the history of these scientific tools, beginning in the 1700s. Makers of early examples experimented with different construction materials, with tinplate becoming the most common, although some were made of wood, canvas, or other metals.<\/p>\n

In the 20th century, their original purpose waned, but strapped over a shoulder, they became a pre-backpack accessory for children. Many were highly decorated or painted with bucolic scenes. Today, they are valuable collector\u2019s items!<\/p>\n

R\u00e9gine Fabri, the retired former head of the library at the University of Li\u00e8ge in Belgium, researched and wrote this book in French. She inherited her grandmother\u2019s vasculum dating from around 1900 and \u201chad no idea that my grandmother\u2019s beautiful box was not just a child\u2019s toy, but a piece of real scientific equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an unusual publication twist, the English edition was first written by DeepL Translate, a machine translation service. This draft was then proofread and revised by Henry Noltie from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

Winner of the 2025 Annual Literature Award<\/a> from the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries, the book\u2019s text is extremely well-researched and documented with extensive notes and a bibliography. However, it is the over 300 photographs and other images that will catch your eye. They document how this scientific tool became a cultural icon, extending even into the 21st century as stylish handbags or baskets. Who knew that botanists could become fashion trendsetters!<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Brian Thompson<\/p>\n

Excerpted from\u00a0The Leaflet<\/em>, Volume 12, Issue 11, November 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you own a vasculum? If you were an active field botanist a century ago, the answer would undoubtedly have been a resounding yes! Also known as a botanical box, these cylindrical, metal containers that opened along one side were used for temporary housing of collected plant specimens, protecting them from being crushed. They also provided a humid environment until the plants could be pressed into herbarium specimens. One of the newest and most unusual books in the Miller Library…<\/p>\n

Continue reading The Vasculum or Botanical Collecting Box: Symbol of the Nineteenth-Century Botanist, now an Obsolete Relic<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[],"class_list":["post-16996","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book\/16996"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/book"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=16996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}