Herbals : Their Origin and Evolution. A Chapter 



in the History of Botany, 1470- 1670. By Agnes Arber 

 (Airs E. A. Newell Arber), D.Sc, F.L.S., Fellow of 

 Netvnham College, Cambridge, and of University College, 

 London. 



Royal 8vo, pp. xviii + 254. With frontispiece, 21 plates, and 113 text-figures. 



Price loj-. hd. net. 



Extract from the Preface 



The main object of the present book is to trace in outHne 

 the evolution of the printed herbal in Europe between the 

 years 1470 and 1670, primarily from a botanical, and second- 

 arily from an artistic standpoint The titles of the principal 



botanical works, which were published between 1470 and 1670, , 

 are given in Appendix I. The book is founded mainly upon 

 a study of the herbals themselves....! have also drawn freely 

 upon the historical and critical literature dealing with the period 

 under consideration, to which full references will be found in 



Appendix II The great majority of the illustrations are 



reproduced from photographs taken directly from the originals 

 by Mr W. Tams of Cambridge, to whom I am greatly indebted. 



CONTENTS 



The Early History of Botany — The Earliest Printed Herbals (Fifteenth 

 Century) — The Early History of the Herbal in England — The Botanical 

 Renaissance of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries — The Evolution of 

 the Art of Plant Description — The Evolution of Plant Classification — The 

 Evolution of the Art of Botanical Illustration — The Doctrine of Signatures, 

 and Astrological Botany — Conclusions — Appendix I — -Appendix H — Index. 



Globe. — Mrs Arber may rest assured that her fragrant volume will be cherished 

 in many a quiet home, both for the sake of its subject and the fascinating 

 manner in which she has treated it... Mrs Arber has succeeded to a 

 remarkable degree in retaining in the reader's mind that indefinable 

 impression of sweetness and perfume which the title of her book brings 

 with it.... Of the artistic aspect of the old herbals Mrs Arber has furnished 

 abundant evidence in the liberal fashion in which she has illustrated her 

 book with the woodcuts and plates taken straight from their pages. ...No 

 one will read it without yielding to the seductive charm which Mrs Arber 

 has contrived so delicately to retain. 



\A special prospectus of this book, including a specimen plate, may 

 be obtained from tJie publishers on application^ 



