PREFACE 



TO add a volume such as the present to the existing 

 multitude of books about books calls for some apology. 

 My excuse must be that many of the best herbals, especially 

 the earlier ones, are not easily accessible, and after experi- 

 encing keen delight from them myself, I have felt that some 

 account of these works, in connection with reproductions of 

 typical illustrations, might be of interest to others. In the 

 words of Henry Lyte, the translator of Dodoens, "I thinke 

 it sufficient for any, whom reason may satisfie, by way of 

 answeare to alleage this action and sententious position : 

 Bonum, quo communius, eo melms et prcestanttus : a good 

 thing the more common it is, the better it is." 



The main object of the present book is to trace in 

 outline the evolution of the printed herbal, in Europe 

 between the years 1470 and 1670, primarily from a botanical, 

 and secondarily from an artistic standpoint. The medical 

 aspect, which could only be dealt with satisfactorily by 

 a specialist in that science, I have practically left untouched, 

 as also the gardening literature of the period. Bibliographical 

 information is not given in detail, except in so far as it 

 subserves the main objects of the book. Even within these 

 limitations, the present account is far from being an exhaustive 

 monograph. It aims merely at presenting a general sketch 

 of the history of the herbal during a period of two hundred 

 years. The titles of the principal botanical works, which 

 were published between 1470 and 1670, are given in 

 Appendix I. 



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