Eugene L. Vigil and the Antiquariat Botanicum

As I was surveying the many different booths contained within the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, I was having trouble finding something I would be genuinely intrigued in. As a biology major, I am not well-versed in literature so even if I went to the various booths pertaining to literature, I would be at a loss in terms of what questions to ask. The Antiquariat Botanicum was one of the few booths that I was immediately drawn to.

These vibrant illustrations were what I first saw when I approached the booth. They were more inviting for me than the copious amounts of text found at other booths.

Eugene L. Vigil, Ph. D., was one of the booksellers in charge of the Antiquariat Botanicum booth and collection. The Antiquariat Botanicum store is located in Lynden, WA and opened in 1987. Their collection of books range from as early as the 15^th century to the 20^th century. I was curious and asked what he acquired his Ph.D. in since there was a collection of books on all kinds of subjects. He responded that he acquired his Ph. D in botany and as such, the Antiquariat Botanicum was originally focused on collecting books pertaining to botany.

I asked him why the booth was called the Antiquariat Botanicum, and whether it included more books than those specializing in botany. He explained that since botany is such a specific topic, if no buyers of botany books came to the fairs, then no books would be sold. As a result, the specificity of the book collection was loosened, the collection expanded, and more topics were introduced. This way there could be a greater circulation of rare books being bought and sold. What was once concerning only botany now included science, mathematics, medicine, and more. Even with these subjects added to expand the collection, it was still a rather niche collection as there were not many customers stopping by.

Here is a link to the Antiquariat Botanicum Website:

https://www.antiquariatbotanicum.com/shop/botanicum/index.html

Works Cited:

“Home Page – Antiquariat Botanicum – Botany, Gardening, Color Plate, Herbals, Science, Exploration, Mathematics, Medicine.” Home Page – Antiquariat Botanicum – Botany, Gardening, Color Plate, Herbals, Science, Exploration, Mathematics, Medicine. Accessed May 19, 2018. https://www.antiquariatbotanicum.com/shop/botanicum/index.html.