To the leader. 





planting and prefcruing of all thefe. In this Worke hee hath not fuperficially handled 

 thefe thingSjbut accurately defcended to the very varieties in each fpecies : wherefore I 

 haue now and then referred ray Reader addiffced to thefe deIights,to this worke cfpecial- 

 ly in floures and fruits, wherein I was loth to fpend too much time, efpecially feeing I 

 could adae nothing to what he had done vpon that fubieft before. He alfo there promi- 

 fed another Worke, the which I thinke by this time is fit for the PrefTc. 



Now am I at length come to this prefent Worke, whereof I knowyouwillexpe&I 

 fliould fay fomewhat ; and I will not fru (irate your expe&ation,but labour to fatisfie you 

 in all I may, beginning with the Author,then his Worke,what it was,and iaftly,what it 



now is. 



For the Author M r Uhn Gerard I can fay little, but what you alfo may gather out of MnGemdi 

 this Worke ; whichis,hewas borne in the yeare i545- in Chefliire,at Naroptwich, from 

 whence he came to this City,and betookehimfelfe to Surgery, wherein his endeauours 

 were fucb,as he therein attained tobea Matter of that worthy Profeffion : he lined fome 

 ten yeares after the publifliing of this worke,and died about the yeare i6oyMis chicfe 

 commendations is, that he out ofa propenfe good will to the publique aduancement of 

 this knowledge, endeauoured to performe therein more then he could well accomplifh • 

 which was partly through want of fufficient learnings (befides that which hehimfelfe 

 faith of himfelfe in the chapter of Water Docke)may be gathered by the tranflatingof SfCtf * cfcr - 

 diuers places out of the Adaerfaria^s this for one in thedefcription of*^fier K jittictis % T*t*\u*% 

 CaulespedaUsterni aut qtaterni: which is rendted, A ftalkc foureor fiue foot long, He alfo hc.c menno- 

 by the fame defeft called burnt Barley, *Ho~deum difiichon^nA diuided the titles of ho J* d r 

 nour from the name of the perfon whereto they did belong, making two names therof, p^'i* 91 * » 

 beginning one claufe with * lulins Alexandrinus faith,&c.and the next with, Cdfarius Ar- f* l 47* 

 chiatcr faith. He alfo was very little conuerfantin the writings of the Antients,neither, 

 as it may feemeby diucrs pa flages, could hee well diftinguifhbetweenetheantientand 

 moderne writers: for he in one place faith, [* Neither by Diofcorides y Fuchfius^ox any other &UU 

 antientwriteronceremembred.] Diuers fnch there ate, which I had rather pafTeouer in 

 iilence, than here fet downe : neither fhould I willingly haue touched hereon, but that I 

 haue met with fome that haue too much admired him, as the only learned and iudicious 

 writer. But let none blame him for thefe defe6ts,feeing he was neither wanting in pains 

 nor good will, to performe what hee intended • and there are none fo fimple but know, 

 that heauie burthens are with mod paines vndergone by the weakefl men : and although 

 there were many faults in the worke, yet iudge well o f the Author j for as a lare Writer 



well faithj/wf///^ hullucwari humanum eft ; Jolttndinem qu^at cportet> qui vult cum fcrfi&u c**.ll* e#.2. 

 viuere. Penfanda vitijs ben a cuiujque funt>& qua maior pars ingenijftetit,ea iudtcandurn dc homi - * R'p Hcbl 



neefi. 



Now let me acquaint you how this Worke was madevp. ZWMiwhisPemptades 

 cqmming forth Anno\ 5 85, were (hortly after tranflated into Englifh by D r Priefi a Phy. 

 fition of London,who died either immediately before or after the finifhing of this tran* 

 flation. This I had firft by the relation of one who knew D r Priefi and M r Gerard: and 

 it is apparant by the worke it felfe, which you fhall finde to containe the Pemptades of 

 DedonAus tranflated, fo that diuers chapters haue fcarce a word more or lefle than what 

 is in him. But I cannot commend my Author for endeauouring to hide this thing from 

 vs,cavilling(though commonly vniuftly)with Dodontus, wherefoeuer he names him,ma- 

 king it a thing of heare-fay, * that D r Priefi tranflated Dodontus: when in the Epiftle of Secfcit Epftfe 

 his friend M r Bredwell y prefixed before this Worke, are thefe words :[The firft gatherers * 'fcRG*da. 

 out of the Anticnts,and augmenters by their owne paines,haue already fpread tbeodour 

 of their goad names through all the lands of learned habitations : D r Priefi for tranfla- 

 ting fo much as Dcdonau^hnh hereby left a tombe for his honourable fepukure.M r Ge« 

 rardcomming laft, but not the lead, hath many waies accomodated the whole Worke 

 vntoourEngli(hNation,&c] But that which may feme to cleare all doubts,if any can 

 be in a thing fo manifeft, is a place in Labels Annotations vpon Rondeletius his Pharmaco- 

 P'lWbexepag.w.he findes faultwith Dodonaus ,forvfing barbaroufly theword Setafov 



Sericwn '***'* n»\rUT\v n-l-A ~A~- *r-^\.\--* 1 f- ° /• . - J ~ . _ 





and with D r Priefi, who (faith he) at the charges of M r Norton tranflated Bodo- 

 "*us, and deceiued by this word Seta, committed an abfurd errour intranflating it a bri- 

 »le,when as it fhould haue beene,filke.Th is place fo tranflated is to be feen in the chap- 

 ter of the Skarlet Oke,at the letter F. And LoMweW knew that it was D l Priefi that 

 committed this error, and therefore blames not M r Gerard, to whom hee made (hew of 

 iriendn 1 , p> andwhowasyet liuing.-butyet hee couertly gaue vs to vnderftand, that the 



•rorjce wherein tiwt error was committed } was a tranflation oiDodomus and that made by 



IT IF IT "O' Priefi 





