Cabinet 7: Herbals

John Gerard’s major work, the Herbal, was first published in 1597, but to what extent is he its author? While very influential, the work was strongly criticized for its reliance on Robert Priest’s translation of Rembert Dodoens’ Stirpium historiae pemptades sex. John Norton, the Queen’s printer, inserted nearly 1800 woodcuts taken from Bergzabern’s Eicones plantarum, and then in 1633 the work was considerably revised by Thomas Johnson.

John Gerard, The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes Gathered by Iohn Gerarde of London Master in Chirurgerie Very Much Enlarged and Amended by Thomas Iohnson Citizen and Apothecarye of London (London: Adam Islip, 1633) de Beer Ec 1633 G