46 THE OLD ENGLISH HERBALS 



the middle of the thirteenth century ; for, though it cites Albertus 

 Magnus, who was teaching in Paris in 1248, there is no mention 

 of any of the later authorities, such as Thomas Aquinas, Roger 

 Bacon and Vincent de Beauvais. It was certainly known in 

 England as early as 1296, for there is a copy of that date at 

 Oxford, and there still exist both in France and in England 

 a considerable number of other manuscript copies, most of which 

 date from the latter part of the thirteenth century and the 

 early part of the fourteenth. The book was translated into 

 English in 1398 by John de Trevisa,^ chaplain to Lord Berkeley 

 and vicar of Berkeley, and Bartholomew could scarcely have 

 been more fortunate in his translator. At the end of his 

 translation, Trevisa writes thus : — 



" Endlesse grace blysse thankyng and praysyng unto our 

 Lorde God Omnipotent be gyuen, by whoos ayde and helpe this 

 translacon was endyd at Berkeley e the syxte daye of Feuerer 

 the yere of our Lorde MCCCLXXXXVIII the yere of y^ reyne 

 of Kynge Rycharde the seconde after the Conqueste of Englonde 

 XXII. The yere of my lordes aege, syre Thomas, Lorde of 

 Berkeleye that made me to make this Translacon XLVII." 



Salimbene shows that the book was known in Italy in 1283, 

 and there are two MS. copies in the Bibliotheque Nationale of 

 Paris, of which the earliest is dated 1297. Before Trevisa made 

 his English translation, it had been translated into French by 

 Jehan Corbichon, in 1372, for Charles V. of France. 



The book was first printed at Basle about 1470, and the 

 esteem in which it was held may be judged from the fact that 

 it went through at least fourteen editions before 1500, and 

 besides the English and French translations it was also trans- 

 lated into Spanish and Dutch. The English translation was 



1 John de Trevisa, a Comishman, was a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, 

 and subsequently of Queen's College. He afterwards became chaplain to 

 Lord Berkeley and vicar of Berkeley. 



