An Illustrated History of the HerbalsThis book is a fascinating and beautifully illustrated history of herbal texts throughout the world from ancient cultures through the seventeenth century. An “herbal” by definition is a book that is descriptive of plants and the term did not come into use until the sixteenth century. The production of herbals is closely connected to the history of early printing and offers the finest examples of this art and craft. However, the earliest records of ancient Egypt, Sumer and China all reflect a tradition of works of botanicals and their medicinal properties long before printing. The author’s survey begins with a work called De materia medica written in the first century which is extant and, as the final authority on pharmacy for 1500 years, is the most important herbal ever written. The study of herbals offers a rich history of the culture and beliefs from the folklore and science of medieval and classical worlds. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The De Materia Medica of Dioscorides | 7 |
Plinys Naturalis Historia | 16 |
The Herbal of Apuleius | 23 |
The De Viribus Herbarum of Macer Floridus | 30 |
Mesue the Younger Opera Quae Extant Omnia Serapion the Younger Liber Serapionis Aggregatus | 36 |
The Circa Instans of Matthaeus Platearius | 45 |
The Physica of Hildegarde of Bingen | 51 |
The De Historia Stirpium of Leonhart Fuchs | 137 |
The New Herball of William Turner | 148 |
The Kreütterbuch of Adam Lonitzer | 156 |
The Commentarii of Pier Andrea Mattioli | 163 |
The Cruÿdeboeck of Rembert Dodoens | 173 |
Thurneissers Historia | 181 |
The Herbario Nuovo of Castore Durante | 187 |
The Phytognomonica of Giambattista Porta | 193 |
Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum | 59 |
The Opus Ruralium Commodorum of Pietro Crescenzi | 66 |
Conrad von Megenbergs Buch der Natur | 73 |
Peter Schoeffers Herbarius Latinus | 82 |
Peter Schoeffers Der Gart | 89 |
Arbolayre or Le Grant Herbier | 98 |
Jacob Meydenbachs Hortus Sanitatis | 106 |
Das Buch zu Distillieren of Hieronymus Brunschwig | 113 |
The Herbarum Vivae Eicones of Otto Brunfels | 121 |
The Kreüter Buch of Hieronymus Bock | 130 |
The Coloquios of Garcia da Orta and the Dos Libros of Nicolas Monardes | 201 |
The Phytobasanos of Fabio Colonna | 210 |
The Herball of John Gerard | 218 |
Parkinsons Theatrum Botanicum | 227 |
The Rerum Medicarum of Francisco Hernandez | 235 |
Glossary | 245 |
251 | |
259 | |