ELIZABETHAN GARDEN LITERATURE. 



173 



it, as in all early books on plants, it is quite distinct in character 

 from these other Herbals. The title of the book is a play upon 

 his name, Park-in-Sun's Earthly Paradise, and the quaintness r . 

 freshness, and originality of the title is characteristic of the whole 

 book. Parkinson has the power of inspiring his readers with a 

 love of flowers and a feeling for their beauty, and still, after a 

 lapse of centuries, no gardener could fail to be refreshed and 

 stimulated in his art by a perusal of the Earthly Paradise.* 





PARKINSON. FROM THE TITLE-PAGE FOR HIS " PARADISUS.' 



Parkinson was born in 1567, and, like all the botanists already 

 mentioned, was an apothecary. He lived in London, and was 

 possessed of an excellent garden, and that he had also travelled 

 appears from his works. He was " apothecary to King James,'' 

 and was made " Botanicus Regius Primarius," by Charles I. 

 He dedicated his Paradise to Queen Henrietta Maria. The 



* The feelings that the book might inspire in children is very prettily 

 shown in Mary's Meadow, by Juliana Horatia Ewing,. 



