Table Of ContentShakespeare’s Plants and Gardens
ARDEN SHAKESPEARE DICTIONARIES
SERIES EDITOR
Sandra Clark (Birkbeck College, University of London)
Class and Society in Shakespeare Paul Innes
Music in Shakespeare Christopher R. Wilson & Michela Calore
Shakespeare’s Books Stuart Gillespie
Shakespeare’s Demonology Marion Gibson and Jo Ann Esra
Shakespeare and the Language of Food Joan Fitzpatrick
Shakespeare’s Legal Language B. J. Sokol & Mary Sokol
Shakespeare’s Medical Language Sujata Iyengar
Shakespeare’s Military Language Charles Edelman
Shakespeare’s Non-Standard English N. F. Blake
Shakespeare’s Plants and Gardens Vivian Thomas and Nicki Faircloth
Shakespeare’s Political and Economic Language Vivian Thomas
Shakespeare’s Religious Language R. Chris Hassel, Jr
Shakespeare’s Theatre Hugh Macrae Richmond
FORTHCOMING TITLES:
Shakespeare’s Insults Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin
Shakespeare and National Identity Christopher Ivic
Shakespeare’s Plants and Gardens
A Dictionary
Vivian Thomas and Nicki Faircloth
Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway
London New York
WC1B 3DP NY 10018
UK USA
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
© Vivian Thomas and Nicki Faircloth, 2014
Vivian Thomas and Nicki Faircloth have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the
publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining
from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or
the author.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4725-5858-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
the secrets of nature
Have not more gift in taciturnity.
Troilus and Cressida (4.2.72–3)
In nature’s infinite book of secrecy
A little I can read.
Antony and Cleopatra (1.2.10–11)
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Series Editor’s Preface ix
Conventions x
Abbreviations xi
List of Headwords xiii
Introduction 1
A–Z 19
Shakespeare’s Works Index 367
Bibliography 377
Index 399
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge the considerable and varied help that we have received in
the course of researching and writing this volume. Our greatest debt of gratitude is to
Audrey Thomas whose critical acumen has been inestimable; she has also prepared the
manuscript, steering it through all its stages. James Heath has been most generous both
with his dissertation and his botanical expertise. John Sutton cast a practised eye over
the botanical sections. Bill Bryson, Richard Mabey and Roy Vickery have all given
botanical and plant-lore advice and information via email. Professor Joscelyn Godwin,
the modern translator of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, has been most helpful. Patrick
Smith’s critical scrutiny has done much to improve clarity and precision of expression.
We are indebted to Len Rix for his perceptive observations. The guidance, patience
and encouragement of the Series Editor, Professor Sandra Clark has been much appre-
ciated. Margaret Bartley, who besides effecting a smooth transition from Continuum to
Bloomsbury has given enormous support to this project, especially in the closing phase.
The London Library has proved an excellent source of extensive and esoteric
information. The access provided by the Wellcome Library to databases and electronic
resources has been invaluable. IT support has been provided by Richard Spires and Will
Thomas. Any remaining omissions and errors are our own.
Series Editor’s Preface
The Arden Shakespeare Dictionaries aim to provide the student of Shakespeare with
a series of authoritative guides to the principal subject areas covered by the plays and
poems. They are produced by scholars who are experts both on Shakespeare and on
the topic of the individual dictionary, based on the most recent scholarship, succinctly
written and accessibly presented. They offer readers a self-contained body of infor-
mation on the topic under discussion, its occurrence and significance in Shakespeare’s
works, and its contemporary meanings.
The topics are all vital ones for understanding the plays and poems; they have been
selected for their importance in illuminating aspects of Shakespeare’s writings where an
informed understanding of the range of Shakespeare’s usage, and of the contemporary
literary, historical and cultural issues involved, will add to the reader’s appreciation of
his work. Because of the diversity of the topics covered in the series, individual diction-
aries may vary in emphasis and approach, but the aim and basic format of the entries
remain the same from volume to volume.
Sandra Clark
Birkbeck College
University of London
