46 JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM [voL. 55 
BIGELOW’S “AMERICAN MEDICAL BOTANY” 
GUNTHER BUCHHEIM 
AMERICAN MEDICAL BOTANY by Jacob Bigelow (1787-1879) is a three- 
volume work in which 60 species of American medicinal plants are de- 
scribed and illustrated. Its publication dates are usually given as “1817- 
1820.” These are the inclusive title-page dates of the volumes: vol. 1 is 
dated 1817, vol. 2: 1818, vol. 3: 1820. However, this work was originally 
published in six parts, and not in volumes: two parts forming each vol- 
ume. With the exception of volume 1 part 1, the other five parts are 
provided with part titles, each being an integral part of the first gathering 
of each part. These part titles are in the form of a half title and are un- 
dated, thus they are of no value in elucidating the dates of publication. 
The copy of this work in the Duke University, Medical Center Library, 
Trent Collection, at Durham, North Carolina (NcD-MC) was loaned 
to the Hunt Botanical Library for this study through the kindness of 
Dr. G. S. T. Cavanagh, librarian. This copy is distinctive in that the 
six parts are preserved in their original green boards, and with the paper 
untrimmed; features that proved to be of high bibliographical impor- 
tance, especially for determination of dates, collation, and paper size. 
The outside front covers give the title as 
AMERICAN | MEDICAL BOTANY | WITH | COLOURED ENGRAVINGS. 
| BY JACOB BIGELOW, M.D. | Member of the American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences; of the American Philosophical | Society, &c. Rumford Professor 
and Lecturer on Materia Medica and | Botany in Harvard University. 
After the volume and part number, there follows enumeration of the 
plants described in each part (10 species), together with the plate num- 
bers. The place of publication, and name of publisher and printer, is the 
same as on the title-pages. Significantly, the dates imprinted on each 
cover differ from those on the title-pages. Although Graesse, Trésor de 
livres rares et précieux 1: 424. 1950 [reprint], Jackson, Guide to the lit- 
erature of botany p. 360. 1881, and Savage (Comp.), Catalogue of the 
printed books and pamphlets in the library of the Linnean Society of Lon- 
don ed. 2, p. 67. 1925, list the correct inclusive dates (1817-1821), no 
reference is known which gives the correct publication dates of all the parts. 
The dates recorded on the front boards are: Vol. I. Part I: 1817; Vol. 
I. Part II: 1818; Vol. II. Part I: 1819; Vol. II. Part IT: 1819; Vol. 
III. Part I: 1820; Vol. HI. Part II: 1821. In conclusion, volume 1 was 
published in 1817-1818 (title-page dated 1817), volume 2 in 1819 (title- 
page dated 1818), and volume 3 in 1820-21 (title-page dated 1820). 
Additionally, a printed text is on the outside back covers of the parts 
belonging to volumes 1 and 2. That on volume 1, part 1 is an announce- 
