
          107

Brossard, David (cont.)

L'art & manière de semer & faire pepinières (cont.)

-----   [English] A booke of the arte and maner howe
to plant and graffe all sortes of trees, howe to set
stones, and sowe pepines to make wylde trees to graffe
on, as also remedies and medicines. With divers other
newe practices, by one of the abbey of Saint Vincent in
Fraunce pratised with his owne handes, with an addition
in the ende of this booke, of certaine Dutch practises,
set forth and Englished by Leonard Mascall. [London]
Henrie Denham for John Wight [1572] 90 (i.e.92) p.
(Arn. Arb,; Brit. Mus.) Huntington Lib.; Bodleian

Altho generally known as Mascall's, the title 
of this book plainly indicates its French
origin, and it is shown to be a translation
of Brossard by Haller, Bib. Bot. 1:324 (1771),
and by C. H. Payne in Gard. Chron. (3) 63:215
(May 25, 1918). Johnson does not remark on
its source in his Hist. Eng. Gard. (1829),
p.69, but in his sketch of Mascall, "Early
writers on English gardening, no.2", in Jour.
Hort. 53:78-79 (1875), he observes that altho
it is admittedly derived from other sources,
it was nevertheless largely supplemented by
Mascall from his own experience, and hence
has considerable claim to originality. It is
a question, however, whether this can be regarded 
as original any more than many other
books that have been translated from an alien
language with slight additions by the translator. 
Neither is it any less so, for this is
the manner in which horticultural literature
has been evolved, by the slow process of adding
here and there a bit of fresh experience to the
old traditional knowledge. If Brossard’s book
had been well known at the time of this translation, 
it might not so readily have passed as
Mascall's own work, but the latter is entitled
to full credit for making it available to English 
gardeners, as well as for whatever original 
matter he may have contributed. (MFW)

Entered in Stationers' Register 1568-69 according 
to Short-title Cat., 17574.

Folger Lib. has a copy to which it assigns
the date [1569] and the Short-title Cat. no.
17574a.
        