The herball, or, Generall historie of plantes / gathered by John Gerarde ... ; very much enlarged and amended by Thomas Johnson.

  • John Gerard
Date:
1636
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The herball, or, Generall historie of plantes / gathered by John Gerarde ... ; very much enlarged and amended by Thomas Johnson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/1730
    to bedrawn. Theophraflus as he followed Ariftotle in the Schoole, fo alfo in his manner of writing j for according as Arifiotle hath deliuered his Hifiona ^Animalium, fo hath he fet forth this of Plants, not by writing ofcachfi ecics in particular, but oitheir differences and Tbeopb.H'ft. nature,by their par is, affections, generations,andlife. Which how hard a thing it was he tells Р и ' иса Р л * you in his fecond chapter,and renders you this zcaton,Becaufethere is nothing common to all Plants,as the mouth and belly is to other lining creatures,&c. Now by th is manner of writing C«V 0 TrefljVvtyirf * you may learne the generall differences and affections ok Plants,but cannot come to the particular knowledge of any,without much labor; for you muft go to many places to ga ther vp the deferiptionof one plant: neither doth he (nor is it neceifat ie for any writing in this manner) make mention of any great number,and of many it may be but once.His Works being in Greeke were tranflatcd into Latine by Theodore Ga who d id chem but Gr&cafidcfox he omitted fome things,otherwhiles rendred them contrarie to the minde of the Author • butaboueall, he rook tohimfelfe too much libertieingiuingof names, in imitation of the Greeke,or of his own inuentionjwhen ir had been better by much for his Reader to haue had them in the Greeke • as when hee renders ^ Agitatorium • чыфя»», So Ur is,¿ч. The learned Iulius Scaliger hath fee forth Ammadv erf ones vpon thefe BookSjWherein he bath both much explained the minde of Theophraflus , and (hewed the errors Ga^a. Some (ince his time haue promifed to do fomething to this Authour,as Daniel Hcinfius and Spigelius-, but twenty yearesare paft fince, and I haue not yet heard of any thing done in this kinde by either of them. Thus much for Theophraflus. Let me not paffe ouer Ariftotle in filence, though his bookes writ of this fubieCf were Arifiotle. but two,and thefe according to the conjecture of Iulius Scaliger ( who hath made a large and curious examination of them,haue either peri died, or come to vs not as they were o- rigi nally written by Anfiotle, but as they haue been by fome later man put into Greeke. Amongft other things Scaliger hath thefe concerning thofe two bookes Reor}textrind Theophrafiidetracla flla qiudam,ijfq • ctavos additosjametfineque aureospieque purpureos . £>god fiprotinus autorem tibi dan vis adArabum diligentiam propius accedit. And afterwards thus; tSdttnbuere viri doclt , alius alij,at quidem qui aliorum vidcrem nihil Planudem autorem facie nti malim afenttri • extant cnim illius alijsin libris fimilisvefiigia[emilatimetatis, &c. Thus much for Arifi .whom as you fee I haue placed after his Schollcr,becaufe there is fuchdoubtof thefe bookes caried about in his name,and for that Scaliger ,as you fee,thinks them rather taken out of Theophraflus, than written by his Mailer. The next that orderly followes is Pedacius Diofcondes Anazarbeus, who liued (accor- Diofcorides. ding to Suidxs) in the time of Cleopatra, which was fome few yeares before the birth of our Sauior.Now Suidas hath confounded * Diofcorides Anagarbeus with Diofcondes Phac as put д nncfiAf am- by fome places in Galen you may fee they were different men: for our Anazarbean Diofco- rides was of the Emperick $eCt,but the other was a follower of Herophylus and of the Ra- eirc.sutd, tional Seft. He writ not only of Plants,but de tota materia medica 5 to which ftudy he was addi&ed euen from his childehood, which made him trauell much ground, and leade a military life,the better to accomplifh his ends: and in this hee attained to that perfecti on,that few or none fince his time haue attained to.Of theexellencie of his work,which is as it were the foundation and ground-worke of all that hath bin fince deliuered in this ^ f meJ . kinde, heare what Galen, ont of the cxce Rente ft ofPhyfitians, and one who fpent no final facuit.ub.6- time in this ftudy,affirmes •« But (faith he) the Anazarbean Diofcorides infiuebookes hath proem, written of the necejfary matter ofcjlledicine, not onely making mention ofHerbefbut alfo ofTrees , Fruits, * Liquors and Payees,as alfo of all dMmerals,and of the parts of lining Creatures .* and in хч*»' * myne opinion he hat h with thegreatefi perfeflionperformed this mrke of the matter of Medicine • for although many before him haue written well vpon this Subietl, yet none haue writfo well of all. Now Diofcorides follo ws not the method of Thcoph.but treats of each herb in particular, firft giuing the Names,then the defcription,and then the place where they vfually grow, and laftly their vertues. Yet of iome,which as then were as frequently known with them as Sage,Rofemary,an Afhoroke tree are with vs, he hath omitted thedefcriptionsasvn- neceifarie,as indeed at that time when they were fo vulgarly known they might feeme fo to bee, but now wee know the Icaft of thefe, and haue no certaintie, but fome probable coniedurcs to direCf vs to the knowledge of them. He was not curious about his words nor method,but plainly and truly deliuered that whereof he had cettaine and experimen tal! knowledge, concerning the deferiprion and nature of Plants. But the general! me thod he obferued you may finde fet forth by Banhinc, in his edition of CMatthiolns, imme diacy after the Preface of the firft booke j whereto I refer the Curious, being too long for mein this place toinfiftvpom. His Works that are come to vs are fiue Books de ma teria CMedica . OntDeletdibus veKenis,eortimq',pracauti 9 ne &euratione. Another , DeCane 4 ] 3 rabi do,-
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