Seeds of knowledge : early modern illustrated herbals / edited by Michael Jakob ; designed by Ewald Frick.

Seeds of knowledge (2023)

"With sumptuous reproductions, Seeds of Knowledge highlights the extraordinary collection of 15th- to 17th-century European printed herbals of the contemporary Liechtenstein collector Peter Goop. Herbals were highly illustrated books that included both the folkloric and medicinal uses of plants, and were critical texts for doctors and lay caregivers. The text and illustrations were repeatedly refined as the medicinal benefits of a plant's use were more clearly understood and the style of illustration tended toward higher degrees of naturalism. These books were working manuals and frequently annotated by readers with notes of herbal recipes/medicines or other uses not found in the printed text. Goop's collection is one of the most extensive in private hands.Using the Morgan's 10th-century manuscript of Dioscurides' De materia medica as a centerpiece, Seeds of Knowledge explores developments in the understanding of the healthful and healing properties of plants, as Europe moved away from medicinal folklore toward an increased understanding of the natural world."-- The Morgan Library & Museum website.

"The Seeds of Knowledge exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York highlights Dr. Peter Goop's extraordinary collection of fifteenth- to seventeenth-century European printed herbals. Doctors, pharmacists, and laypeople of the day made essential tools of these elaborately illustrated texts featuring both folkloric and therapeutic uses for plants. The quality of texts and images alike were honed constantly as scientific knowledge of the plants increased and representational methods grew more accurate. These precious books served as instruction manuals; readers frequently annotated them with recipes, observations, and other marginalia to supplement--and sometimes even correct--the printed text. The transition from the theological interpretation of nature to its empirical exploration was not only a matter for physicians and botanists but mirrored mankind's evolving relationship to nature in general, a topic that remains of crucial relevance today."--Back cover.

Cinisello Balsamo, Milano : Silvana editoriale, [2023]

523 pages : color illustration, facsimiles ; 30 cm

Published on the occasion of an exhibition held at the Pierpont Morgan Library & Museum, New York, N.Y., October 6, 2023 to January 14, 2024.

"The Morgan Library & Museum is pleased to present Seeds of Knowledge: Early Modern Illustrated Herbals. Opening October 6, 2023, and on view through January 14, 2024, the exhibition highlights the collection of fifteenth- to seventeenth-century European printed herbals of Dr. Peter Goop, one of the most significant private collections of herbals in the world. Using the Morgan's tenth-century manuscript of Dioscorides's De materia medica as a centerpiece, this exhibition will explore developments in the understanding of the healthful and healing properties of plants, as Europe moved away from medicinal folklore toward an increased comprehension of the natural world. Placing the Morgan's copy of De materia medica in conversation with the books on view from the Peter Goop Collection, this exhibition illuminates a watershed moment in the studies of natural history, medicine, and the nascent field of botany. European printed herbals underwent significant developments in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: texts were made more accessible, local flora was increasingly included, and naturalistic illustrations enabled clearer identification of plants. In medieval and Renaissance Europe, herbals were used by professional physicians and apothecaries as well as in religious communities. As printing made the volumes more affordable, herbals also became important references in private homes. The installation explores the European evolution and expansion of knowledge about the natural world from the medieval and Renaissance periods to the sixteenth century. The texts often cite authorities of antiquity, such as Pliny the Elder in addition to Dioscorides, whose botanical knowledge was largely restricted to the Mediterranean. A 1513 edition of Pliny the Elder's Historia naturalis from the Peter Goop Collection is included in the installation. As the old view of the natural world broadened, propelled by studies of the flora of northern Europe and newly imported species from Asia and the Americas, scholars began revising and expanding herbals accordingly. Readers frequently annotated the books with additional information and medicinal recipes gained through practical experience, preserving deep local histories of herbal knowledge. Highlights of the exhibition include the highly influential Herbarum vivae eicones (Living Images of Herbs), written by Otto Brunfels (1488-1534) and illustrated by Hans Weiditz the Younger (ca. 14951536). This was the first European herbal with highly naturalistic illustrations, copied directly from life, revolutionizing herbal illustration. Notably, the text focuses almost exclusively on local plants-- including nearly forty that had not previously been described--rather than relying on ancient authorities who would have known nothing about German flora. Another highlight of the exhibition is Commentarii in sex libros Pedacii Dioscoridis Anazarbei de medica materia (Commentary on the six books of Dioscorides's "On medical material") by Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1501-1577). Perhaps second only to Dioscorides, Mattioli is one of the most significant figures in early European botany. The 1,012 large format images in this edition mark the high point of botanical woodcut illustration in the sixteenth century, uniting technical and artistic virtuosity with morphological accuracy. Printed illustrations were a collaboration between at least two artists: one to draw the image and the other to carve the woodcut or engraving that would make the image reproducible. This edition is accompanied by two original woodblocks made by the illustrator Giorgio Liberale (b. 1527) and the blockcutter Wolfgang Meyerpeck (ca. 1505 - 1578), used in printing the plant images. On view are the Caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris) woodblock from the Peter Goop Collection and the Morgan's Hazelwort (Asarum eurpaeum) woodblock."--The Morgan Library & Museum, press release.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 513-523).

Foreword / Peter Goop -- Welcome address / Colin B. Bailey -- List of abbreviations -- Introduction / Michael Jakob -- Production and distribution of German Herbal Incunabula / John T. McQuillen -- Science and illustration meet. Plants and herbs in sixteenth-century texts / Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi -- Caius Plinius Secundus, Pliny the Elder -- Scriptores Rei Rusticae -- Pseudo-Apuleius -- Macer Floridus -- Bartholomaeus Anglicus -- Pietro De' Crescenzi -- Konrad Von Megenberg -- Herbarius Latinus -- Arbolyare -- Gart de Gesundheit -- Hortus Sanitatis -- Hieronymus Brunschwig -- Otto Brunfels -- Christian Egenolff -- Leonhart Fuchs -- Pietro Andrea Mattioli -- Jean Ruel -- William Turner -- Hieronymus Bock -- Joachim Camerarius -- Hieronymus Harder -- Basilius Besler.