The herbalist's bible : John Parkinson's lost classic rediscovered : Theatrum botanicum (1640)

622 Pages·2014·20.36 MB·English

by  Bruton-Seal

C
ONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
A note to the reader
THE HERBALIST’S BIBLE
Agrimony & hemp agrimony
Archangels & deadnettles
Balm & motherwort
Betony
Blackthorn
Bugle
Burdock
Burnet
Burnet saxifrage
Celandine
Centaury
Chicory
Chili, cayenne
Cleavers
Coca
Coltsfoot
Comfrey
Corn
Daisies
Dandelion
Dock
Elder
Elecampane
Eyebright
Feverfew
Figwort
Goldenrod
Ground ivy
Groundsel
Hawthorn
Honeysuckle
Horsetail
Houseleek
Hyssop
Ivy
Jasmine
Knapweed
Lady’s bedstraw
Lady’s mantle
Liquorice
Lovage
Marjoram
Meadowsweet
Milk thistle
Mint
Mistletoe
Mugwort
Mullein
Nettles
Onion, leek & garlic
Pellitory of the wall
Pimpernel
Poppies
Primroses & cowslips
Rosemary
Sage
Sanicle
Sassafras
Savory
Seaweed
Selfheal
Solomon’s seal
Sorrel
St John’s wort
Strawberry
Thyme
Tobacco
Tomato
Tribulus
Vervain
Violets & heartsease
Watercress
Weld
Woodruff
Yarrow
Notes
Appendixes
Brief biographies
A select Parkinson bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
The authors
Dedicated to
JOHN PARKINSON
(1567–1650)
Writer, gardener, herbalist, botanist, apothecary
Phoebus hath fifty times lash’t through the signes, Since thou intend’st this Iubilee of lines.
And now ’tis extant; and shall swiftly scou’re Through darke oblivion to the world’s last houre. . . .
Keepe thy Hesperides; may thy herbes with thee Still bloome; by Prester never blasted bee.
And seeing by thy hands the day is wonne, No night of Age shall cloude bright Parke-in-sunne.
John Harmer, Oxford
(writing in the preliminary pages of Theatrum Botanicum, 1640)
Worthy sir,
You have built us a Botanicke Theater; with such excellent skill and advantage to the Spectator; that at one
view he commands the prospect of both Hemisphers; and all their vegetables in the pride of beauty: ranged
in their proper orders, decking the Hils, Plaines, Valleyes, Medowes, Woods, and Bankes, with such a world
of shapes and colours, so delightfull to the eye, so winning upon the rationall Soule which feeds on rarities!
that we cannot hope for a more compleate Paradise upon earth, till Nature have found out a new stocke for
more variety; what can be added to this I see not; nor is it (I beleeve) yet knowne to the best of Artists that
have made search.
John Speed, Med.D., Oxon
(writing in the preliminary pages of Theatrum Botanicum, 1640) right: John Parkinson’s dedication to King
Charles I of his ‘Manlike Worke of Herbes and Plants,’ in Theatrum Botanicum, 1640. He had become the
royal herbalist a few months before publication

P
REFACE
Our connection with John Parkinson began in late 2005 when we first saw a copy
of his Theatrum Botanicum (1640) in the Collection of Rare Botanical Books at
the John Innes Foundation in Norwich. It was our good luck to have found a
collection of old botanical and herbal books within four miles of where we were
living, and we made full use of it.
The book itself was a huge folio of 1,788 pages of illustrated text, with a sturdy
leather cover, and weighing in at 11 lb (5 kg). It is not a book to be treated lightly,
in any sense of the word. We did hear that some twenty or thirty years previously
the book could then be borrowed from the open shelves of the John Innes
Library, and that one person cycled home with a copy in an open rucksack on his
back, later returning it complete with rain spatters.
Such old volumes were being treated with rather more care by the time we
visited, with climate control and close supervision. Indeed, Theatrum now had
the status and charisma of a rare book, the original edition of 1640 never having
been reprinted.
Open its first few pages and you find the descriptive title page, in the 17th
century manner, with some 180 words describing this ‘herball of a large extent.’
It is actually the biggest herbal ever to be published in English, so Parkinson
didn’t over-sell himself here.
Opposite the title is a frontispiece (which we reproduce in a hand-coloured
version) by the engraver William Marshall, with central panels showing Adam as
the original gardener, with a spade, and Solomon, the wise authority, with a
crown and sceptre. At the four corners are four naked ladies from different
continents who are riding on appropriate steeds and surrounded by native
plants.
But what hits the eye among this careful mythology is the inset likeness at the
foot of the page of John Parkinson himself, aged 73. He has short hair under an
apothecary’s skullcap and is dressed dourly in black, with a plain ruff, and
holding a thistle. He is slender in build, unsmiling, somewhat tired and lightly
bearded—and looks uncannily like Julie’s father!