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.

    18/44 (page 16)
    In concluding these notes on the various editions of the first herbal printed in England, it is perhaps necessary to explain why they have been made the subject of such a considerable portion of this paper. The explanation must be that this, I believe, is not only the first occasion on which they have been collectively described, but also the first attempt to remove the obscurity that has long existed concerning their authorship, so far at least as it concerns the printer, Wm. Copland, and the writers, Walter Cary, Anthony Ascham, and Thomas Linacre. With regard to the origin of the herbal, I think it will probably be found in one or more of the numerous fourteenth or fifteenth-century manuscripts on the virtues and properties of herbs which are still preserved in various libraries of this country. The issue may not be important, but here is a field of interesting research for the leisured student of this fascinating old literature. “ The Grete Herb all.” A year after the publication of “ Banckes’ Herbal,” 1525, there appeared the first of the larger series of profusely illustrated books which were based chiefly on works printed on the Continent. Title.—The grete herball j whiche geueth parfyt knowlege and under- | standyng of all maner of herbes & there gracyous vertues whiche god hath | ordeyned for our prosperous welfare and helth, for they hele & cure all maner | of dyseases and sekenesses that fall or mysfortune to all maner of creatoures | of god created, prac- tysed by many expert and wyse maysters, as Auicenna and | other &c. Also it geueth full parfyte understandynge of the booke lately pryn | ted by me (Peter treueris) named the noble experiens of the vertuous hand | warke of surgery. [Woodcut of a man, with a spade in liis right hand, gathering grapes, and a woman emptying herbs and flowers out of her apron into a basket. In the loiver corners two figures representing a male and female mandrake.~\ Colophon, preceded by full-page ivoodcut of printer’s mark.—CL Im- prentyd at London in South- ] warke by me peter Treueris, dwel- | lynge in the sygne of the wodows. | In the yere of our Lorde god. M.D. | XXVI. the xxvii. day of July. Black Letter, folio, ►P6, A—Z6, Aa—Ee6. According to Ames, the first edition of this work appeared in 1516, but no trace of any copy bearing this date can be found. It is doubtless an error, as Treveris did not begin to print until 1522.