MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED HERBALS 



67 



" Grand Herbier in Francoys " secundo duo codici del secolo XV 

 conservati nella Regia Bihlioteca Estense, there are reproduced 

 the French verses in which occurs the Hne, " II a este escript 

 Millccc cinquante et huit/' and Mr. H. B. Barlow ^ supports 

 the deduction that Circa Instans was not written by a Salernitan 

 physician, but by a writer described in the verses as " Bar- 

 tholomaeus minid' senis " in 1458. Le Grant Herbier, of which 

 the Enghsh Grete Herball is a translation, is a version of the French 

 manuscript translation of Circa Instans, and therefore, as Circa 

 Instans is older than either the Herbarius zu Teutsch or the Latin 

 Ortus Sanitatis, it would seem that it is the real original of our 

 Grete Herball. The preface to the Grete Herball, however, bears 

 a strong resemblance to that of the German Herbarius, of which 

 I quote a part from Dr. Arber's translation, made from the 

 second (Augsburg) edition of 1485. They have been placed in 

 parallel columns to show how closely the English preface follows 

 that of the German Herbarius. 



Preface to the Herbarius zu Teutsch. 



" Many a time and oft have I con- 

 templated inwardly the wondrous 

 works of the creator of the universe : 

 how in the beginning He formed 

 the heavens and adorned them with 

 goodly shining stars, to which he 

 gave power and might to influence 

 everything under heaven. Also how 

 he afterwards formed the four ele- 

 ments : fire, hot and dry — air, hot 

 and moist — water, cold and moist — 

 earth, dry and cold — and gave to 

 each a nature of its own ; and how 

 after this the same Great Master of 

 Nature made and formed herbs of 

 many sorts and animals of all kinds 

 and last of all Man, the noblest of 

 all created things. Thereupon I 

 thought on the wondrous order which 



Preface to The Grete Herball. 

 " Consyderynge the grete good- 

 nesse of almyghty God creatour of 

 heven and erthe, and al thynge 

 therin comprehended to whom be 

 eternall laude and prays etc. Con- 

 syderynge the cours and nature of 

 the foure elementes and qualytees 

 where to ye nature of man is inclyned, 

 out of the whiche elementes issueth 

 dyvers qualytees infyrmytees and 

 dyseases in the corporate body of 

 man, but god of his goodnesse that 

 is creatour of all thynges hath 

 ordeyned for mankynd (whiche he 

 hath created to his own lykenesse) 



^ Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 



