Botanical Expedition! - Botanical Research Institute of Texas

iridos volume 18 no 2
20
Trading Cards, Space
Exploration, and BRIT Books
PHOTOS By ROBERT GEORGE
Did you ever collect baseball cards? Well, two
unique books known as Dutch trade card albums might interest you. Recently donated
to the library, one illustrates cacti and the other succulents. They are prized by
collectors for their rarity, artistic appeal, and accuracy of species depicted. Authored
by A.J. Van Laren, Cactussen and Vetplanten (literally, fat plant), published in 1931
and 1932 respectively, both contain over a hundred cards. They were published by
the Verkade Biscuit Company in Zaamdam, outside of Amsterdam, an enterprise that
produced trade cards and the albums to paste them in from 1903 to 1940.
The cards, with colorful art on the front and advertising on the back, were a means
of selling products. Artistic themes ranged from wildlife and plants to country scenes.
Collected individually, much like baseball cards, they were pasted into the published
albums.
In the case of BRIT’s new acquisitions, the text is very accurate, ample, and
scientific in nature. And it’s no wonder. Author, A.J. Van Laren, was curator of
Amsterdam’s botanic garden, Hortus Botanicus, a garden that had its beginnings in
1638, and is one of the oldest in Europe.
hAvE You hEARd?
The space program is progressing! No, not NASA’s space exploration program, but
BRIT’s program to make space. We’re working in the journal stacks clearing the
topmost shelf, long used for duplicates storage, to make room for our growing library.
In the rare book room, we have moved the preservation materials and work space
into the archives work area. Making use of the vacated sections by moving and
consolidating books, we’ll bring over items that are underutilized in the children’s
library in BRIT’s other main building. The program has opened up new frontiers,
thanks to the determination and muscle of volunteers John Kovac, Jerry Sorenson
and Satyatit Balial.
Speaking of volunteers, we have recently bid farewell to two longtime volunteers.
We sorely miss Ruth Ginsburg and Robbin Brodsky, but they will be assets in their
new communities. Their departure highlights how much we rely upon volunteers to
continue, maintain, and provide quality library services.