Old English herbals 1525-1640 / by Horace Mallinson Barlow.

  • Barlow, Horace Mallinson, 1884-
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Old English herbals 1525-1640 / by Horace Mallinson Barlow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    cal | led an her | bal. | | [Woodcuts representing Job and Amos at the bottom.^] Colophon.—Imprynted at | London by | Joban Waley, | dwellynge in | Foster Lane. | [Woodcut of St. John the Baptist] Black letter, 8vo, A-H8, K4. The only copy I have been able to find is in the library of the Manchester Medical Society, and I am indebted to the Librarian, Mr. A. F. C. Davey, for the above title and colophon. This edition is also undated, but in the old catalogue of the library the year is given as 1548. On what authority this has been fixed I cannot say, but from a comparison with other editions of the work, and in the absence of further details concerning the life of the printer, this date, I think, must be allowed to remain. As John Waley did not begin to print till 1546, the book could not have been published before that date. As in the case of other printers, Waley would probably make this popular work one of his earliest productions. This conjec- ture is also supported by the address in the colophon, “ Foster Lane,” where he was first established. Now to limit the probable period of the printing we must observe that two editions of the herbal printed by Wm. Copland, assigned to the years 1550 and 1552, have title-pages which show a considerable and well-marked deviation in the general wording. With the exception of Wyer’s edition, previous issues have borne a short and simple title such as that of the present edition by Waley. Copland’s title, then, seems to mark a new era in the career of the herbal, and may be regarded as the first of a series of descriptive and much longer titles, in which all later editions, with one exception, maybe included. Those prior to Copland’s may therefore be classed as a series of particular titles, the last of which was probably Waley’s. More- over, Copland’s editions contain for the first time three additional chapters on “ The virtues of water’s stylled,” “The tyme of gathering of sedes, etc.,” and “A generall rule, etc.,” which, I believe, are to be found in all later editions. If Waley’s had been printed later than Copland’s, it is reasonable to suppose chat he would have followed the practice of all the later printers by including these additions, as any indication that the work contained extra matter would have enhanced the chances of sale. But Waley closely follows the earlier editions of Banckes, Petyt and Middleton, and I should therefore judge his work to have been printed prior to that of Copland. If, therefore, the year assigned to Copland’s earliest issue be correct-—namely, 1550—Waley’s must have been printed between 1546 and 1550. On this supposition the date 1548 may be allowed to stand.