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

  • John Gerard
Date:
1636
Catalogue details

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.

    31/1730
    planting and preferuing of all thefe. In this Workehee hath not fuperficially handled thefe thingSjbut accurately defcended to the very varieties in each fpecies: wherefore I haue nowand then referred my Reader addi&ed to thefe delights,to this worke efpecial- ly in floures and fruits, wherein I was loth to fpend too much time, efpecially feeing I could adde nothing to what he bad done vpon that fubie# before. He alfo there promi- fed another Worke,the which I thinke by this time is fit for the PreiTe. Now am I at length come to this prefent Worke, whereof I know you will exped I fhould fay fomewhatjand I will not fruftrate your expe&ation,but labour to fatisfie you in all I may, beginning with the Author,then his Worke,what it was,and lailly,what it now is. For the Author M r John Gerard lean fay little, but what you alfo may gather out of MnGtmti this Workejwhich is,he was borne in theyeare 1545.in Chefhire,atNamptwich* from whence he came to this City,and betooke himfelfe to Surgery, wherein his endeauours were fuch,as he therein attained to be a Mailer of that worthy Profeifion : hcliued forne ten yeares after the publifliing of this worke,and died about the yeare itfoy.His chiefe commendations is, that he out of a propenfe good will to the publique aduancement of this knowledge, endeauoured to performe therein more then he could well accomplifh 5 which was partly through want of fufficient learning,as (befides that which he himfelfe faith of himfelfe in the chapter of Water Docke)may be gathered by the tranflatingof s?e diuers places out of the Aduerfaria-^s this for one in the description oi*^After tticus , ыьсрйсЛ Caulespedalesterni aut quaterni: which is rendred,A ftalke foureor fiue foot long.He alfo hoc тетю- by the fame defed called burnt Barley, *Hordeum diftickonpnd diuided the titles ofho- . nour from the name of the perfon whereto they did belong, making two names therof, p.6s beginning one claufe with * Julius Alexandrinus iaith,8cc.and the next with, Cafarius Ar - / л 47 * chiatcr faith. He alfo was very little conuerfantin the writings of the Antients,neither, as it may feeme by diuers paftages, could hee well diftinguifh betweent tbeantient and moderne writers.-for he in one place faith,[*Neither by Dioftoridcs , Fttchfius, or any other hi antientwriteronceremembrcd.] Diuers fuch there are, which I had rather pafieouer in filence, than here fetdowne: neither fhould I willingly haue touched hereon,but that I haue met with fome that haue too much admired him, as the only learned and iudicious writer. But let none blame him for thefe defe&s,feeing he was neither wanting in pains nor good will, to performe what hee intended • and there are none fo fimple but know, that heauie burthens are with moft paines vndergone by the weakeft men : and although there were many faults in the worke, yet iudge well of the Author • for as a late Writer well faith,F alii¿r haUucinari humanum eft • fohtudinem quarat oportet , qui vult cum perfetfis cun.tl viuere. Pen fan da vitijs bona cuiufque funt t (jr qua maiorpars ingen'q ftetit,ea iudicandum de homi - ¿ eR P neeft. Now let me acquaint you how this Worke was madevp. iW^/whisPemprades commingforth Anno i58j,werefhortly aftertranHated intoEnglifhby D r Pnefl a Phy- iition of London,who died either immediately before or after the finifhing of this tran- flation. This I had firft by the relation of one who knew D r Prieft and M r Gerard: and it is apparant by the worke it felfe, which you fhall finde to containe the Pemptades of Dodonaus tranflated, fo that diuers chapters haue fcarcea word more or leiTe than what is in him. But I cannot commend my Author for endeauouringtohide this thing from vs,cavilling(though commonly vniuftly)with Doi/^^wherefoeuer he names him,ma king it a thing of heare-fay, * that D' Prieft tranflated Dodonaus: when in the Epiftle of See hi* E P ift* e his friend M x BredwelL^ prefixed before this Worke, are thefe words: [The firft gatherers totheRc * UvU out of the Antients,andaugmentersby their owne paines,haue already fpread the odour of their good names through all the lands of learned habitations: D r Prieft for tranfta- ting fo much as Dodonaus^ hath hereby left a tombe for his honourable fepulture. M r Ge. raid comming laft, but not the leaft, hath many waies accomodated the whole Worke vnto our Englifh Nation,&c.] But that which may feme to cleare all doubts,if any can be in a thing fo manifeft, is a place in Lobds Annotations vpon Rondtletius his Pharmaco- where/>4£. 59.he findes fault with Dodonaus, for vfing barbaroufly theword SetafoT Sericum and with D r Prieft , who (faith he) at the charges of M l Norton tranflated Dodo - naus } and deceiued by this word Seta , committed an abfurd errour intranfiating it a bri- ftle,when as it fhould haue beene,filke.This place fo tranflated is to be feen in the chap ter of the Skarlet Okc, at the letter F. And LobelweW knew that it was D v Priefl that committed this error, and therefore blames not M r Gerard, to whom hee made fhew of friendfhip, and who was yet liuingrbut yet hee couertly gaue vs tovnderftand,thatthe worke wherein that error was committed,was a tranflation of Dodonaus and that made by fHV b’Jritfi
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3