To the courteous and "well willing EReaders, 
Lthough my paines h,tue not teen ftent ( curteous Render ) in the gracious dtfcouerie 
of golden Mines, nor in the truing after fitter varies, whereby my natiue country 
might be enriched with fitch mercbandife as it hath mojl in requeft and admirati- 
on-, yet hath my labour f I trnfl ) been otherwifc profitably employed, in de frying of 
fuch a harmlejfe treafure of herbes, trees, and plants , as the earth Jrankely without 
violence ojfcreth vnto our mojl necejfane vfes. Harmelejfe I call them, beeauje 
they wcrefuch delights as man in thcperfeileft Jlate of hisinnocencie did erfi inioy : and treafure l 
may well terme them, feeing both Kings and Princes bane ejleemed them as Jewels-, fit h wife men 
haul made their whole life as a pilgrimage to attatne to the knowledge of them : by the which they 
haue gained the hearts of all, and opened the mouthes of many, in commendation ojthofe rare vertues 
which are contained in thefe terrcjlriall creatures . I conftffe blindVlutois new adayes more fought 
after than qtticke pghted Phoebus : and yet this dujly mettall, or excrement of the earth (which wot 
fit ft deepely buried leaf it jhoitld be an eye -fore to gritue the corrupt heart of man) by forcible entry 
madeintothebowels of the earth, is rather fnatebedat of man to fits owne ckftruilion,than directly 
fent of God, to the comfort of this life. ndyet behold in the comparing of this worldly drojfe,what 
care, what co(t, what aduentures, what my fticall proof is, and thymic all trials arefet abroach when 
as notwithjlandingthe chiefeft end is but vneert, line wealth. Contrariwife,inthe expert knowledge 
of herbes, what pleafures fill renewed with varietie ? what J, mall expence ? what fecurity ? andyet 
what an apt ana ordinary meanes to conduit man to that mojl defred benefit of health r Which as I 
deuoutly wijh vnto my natiue countrey,andto the caref till nurjwg mother of the fame -fa hauing 
bent my labours to the benefiting of fuch as arc fiudiotijly ptachfid in the confirmation thereof , t 
thought it a chiefepointofmyduty,thusoutofmy poore Jlore t o offer vp theft my far fetched expo, 
riments, together with mine owne countries vnkmwne treafure, combined in this compendious Her - 
ball (not vnprofitable though vnpolifhed)vnto tour wife conftruclions and courteous conjiderations. 
The drift whereof is areadyintroduclionto that excellent art of Simpling, which is neither fi baje 
nor contemptible as perhaps the Engltjh namemay feeme to intimate : out fuch it is, as altogether 
hath been afludy for the wijefi,an exerufe for the noblefi, a pafiime for the befi. From whence 
there firing ftoures not onely to adornethegar lands of theMufcs, to deckethe bojomes of the beauti- 
fully to paint the gardens of the curious, to garni fi the glorious croivnes of Kings -, but alfo fuch fruit 
as learnedDiolconAzs long traue/ledfor -,andprincely Mithridates referred as precious in his 
owne clofet • Mithridates I rneane, better knowne by his fitter airne CMithridate, than by his fom- 
tirnc fieakwg two and twenty languages. But what this famous Prince did by tradition, Eliax king 
of the Arabians did dehnerinadjeourfewrittenofthe vertues of herbes, and dedicated it vnto 
the Emperor Nero. Eiiery greene Herbanft can make mention of the herbe Lyltmachia , whofi 
vertucs were found out by KingLyCimachus,and his venues no leffe eternifed in the felfc fame 
plant, than the name o/Thydias, queimly beaten into the jhieldof Pallas, or the fir ft letters of A- 
jax or Hyacinthus (whether youpleaje) regiftredin that belotted flour e of Apollo. As for Ar- 
te.miC\a, fir ft called , whether the tit/ethereof firang from •xt-nuu, Diana her felfe , orfiom 
the renowned ftfticcne of Caria, which diflofid the vfe thereof vnto poftcritie, it furuitteth as a. 
monument to reuiuethe memories of them both for euer. What fhouldwe fpeake of Ge ntiana, bea-. 
ring Jhllihe cognifance of Gcntius ? or of diuers other herbes taking their denominations of their 
princely lnuentors ? What jkould I fay of thofi royall perfonages , Iuba, Attains, Cliracnus, A. 
chilles, Cyrus, Mafynifla, Semyramis, Dioclefian? but onely thus, to bejpeake their princely 
louesto Herbarifmc, andtheir euerUfting honors (which neither old Plinius dead, noryong Lipfi- 
us lining will permit to die ? ) Crefcent herbie, crefcetis amores : crefcent herb a?, crcfcetis 
honores. But hadthiswomedfacultiewantedthe authcrifement of ftcharoyall companie , King 
Solomon, excelling all t he reft for wifdome, of greater royaltiethan they all ( though the Lillies of 
the fteldout-braued him) he only (I fay )might yeeld hereunto fuffeient countenance and commenda- 
tion, in that his lofty wifedomt thought no florae to ftoupe vnto the lowly plants. 1 lift noifeeeke the 
common 
