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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    profusely illustrated with woodcuts, the “ Grete Herball,” which passed through four editions, the first in 1526, and the last in 1561. Moreover, “ Banckes’ Herbal ” is extremely rare. I have consulted the catalogues of many important libraries, but of the majority of the various editions I have been unable to trace more than a single copy. On the other hand, the larger English herbals of Turner, Gerard, and Parkinson, are frequently to be found, not only in British libraries, but also in the catalogues of second-hand booksellers. Pulteney, in his “ Sketches of the Progress of Botany in England,” 1790, the standard work of its time, only mentions three issues, one bearing the initials “ W. C.,” printed by Copland, the second the name of Macer, and the third that of Askham, whom he describes as the author. And his remarks clearly indicate that two of these were not actually examined by him, but only had their titles quoted, probably from Ames. Again, in 1854, Meyer’s important work, “ Geschichte der Botanik,” which is still the standard book on its subject, only mentions the editions quoted by Pulteney. Of that bearing Askham’s name, Meyer writes : “ Es scheint mehr Astrologie als Botanik zu enthalten,” a statement which, together with another that “ nur eine neue Auflage desselben ist wahrscheinlich,” shows that he himself did not have access to the works. Ames‘is the chief authority to whom one would naturally turn for descriptions. In his “ Typographical Antiquities ” nine editions are recorded. In the present paper, particulars of no less than seventeen will be found, fourteen of which are actually in existence, and have been described directly from the books themselves. The descriptions of the other three are quoted from Ames. The following titles and colophons are arranged in chronological order according to their printers, and approximate dates are assigned to a few of the undated copies. The first is that printed by Richard Banckes. Title. —a. Here begynnyth a new mater / the whiche sheweth and | treateth of ye vertues & proprytes of her- | bes / the whiche is called | an Herball | Y l c Cum gratia & priuilegio | a rege indulto. | \_Woodcut of plant with three conventional pieces or borders.] Colophon.—Cl, Imprynted by me Rycharde Banckes / dwellynge in | Lodo / a lytel fro yG Stockes in ye Pultry / ye xxv. day of | Marche. The yere of our Lorde. M.CCCCC. & XXV. Black Letter, 4to, A—1 in fours. In the following year, 1526, Banckes issued another edition. The wording of both titles, with the exception of slight variations in the