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THE HERBALL OR GENERALL HISTORIE OF PLANTES . . . VERY MUCH ENLARGED AND AMENDED BY THOMAS JOHNSON . . . APOTHECARYE OF LONDON by GERARD, JOHN - 1633

by GERARD, JOHN

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THE HERBALL OR GENERALL HISTORIE OF PLANTES . . . VERY MUCH ENLARGED AND AMENDED BY THOMAS JOHNSON . . . APOTHECARYE OF LONDON by GERARD, JOHN - 1633

THE HERBALL OR GENERALL HISTORIE OF PLANTES . . . VERY MUCH ENLARGED AND AMENDED BY THOMAS JOHNSON . . . APOTHECARYE OF LONDON

by GERARD, JOHN

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  • first
Title page and Gggg4 supplied in facsimile; lacking final leaf (entries X-Z in "Table of Vertues" [sic]).
Recent period-style panelled calf, raised bands, red morocco label.
Title page with border of vignettes (one a portrait of Gerard), decorative and historiated headpieces and initials, and 2,766 WOODCUTS OF PLANTS IN THE TEXT.
Foot of second leaf recto with owner signature of Michael Coxe dated 1749, verso with pencilled notation "This was Michael Coxe's Book from whose [illegible]; occasional early ink marginalia or neat underlining.
Hunt 223; Nissen 698; STC 11751; Brunet II, 1548 ("édition . . . préférable"); ESTC S122165.

Second and third leaves with repairs to head and upper fore-edge margin (trivial loss to headpiece and a shoulder note), second leaf mounted on stub, leaf 7A1 with three-inch internal tear repaired (text slightly affected), 10 leaves at the end a bit browned and wrinkled and with small portions of the margin neatly reinforced, occasional minor smudges or stains and other insignificant defects, but the entirety of the text and its illustrations surprisingly fresh and clean, and with very wide margins; not without problems, but, by and large, an appealing copy in a pleasing unworn sympathetic binding.

This is the preferred edition of one of the most famous herbals ever published in England. The work made the barber-surgeon and horticulturist Gerard (1545-1612) famous when it was first published in 1597, and it was still being used in botany classes as late as the end of the 18th century. Gerard based the work on experience in his own substantial gardens and as superintendent of several others in and near London, including various properties owned by William Cecil, first Baron Burghley, whose gardens were famous for their variety of plants and trees. Henrey says, notwithstanding claims that Gerard's great work was more than a little derivative, he "contributed greatly towards the advancement of the knowledge of plants in England, and in his 'Herball' described and illustrated several hundreds of . . . native plants, including about 182 which were additional to those recorded in earlier works." In 1632, the successors of Gerard's first publisher commissioned Thomas Johnson (d. 1644), a well-known apothecary and botanist, to prepare a second edition. He did this so well and added so much (a valuable comprehensive historical introduction as well as half again as many woodcuts) that most people think of our first edition of Johnson's revision as a first printing. Johnson "corrected many of Gerard's more gullible errors, and improved the accuracy of the illustrations by using Plantin's woodcuts." (Hunt) Arber says that "the 'Herball,' thus transformed, reached a far higher level than Gerard's own edition." While this copy lacks the final leaf of the index and has two leaves in facsimile, its condition is in other ways quite attractive, and its agreeable price is meant to reflect its pros and cons.
  • Bookseller Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts US (US)
  • Book Condition Used
  • Quantity Available 1
  • Edition First Edition of Johnson's Revision
  • Publisher Printed by Adam Islip, Joice Norton, and Richard Whitakers
  • Place of Publication London
  • Date Published 1633
  • Pages [38], 1634 (wrongly numbered 1630), [48] pp. (collates as ESTC copy).
  • Size 355 x 230 mm. (14 x 9").
  • Size 355 x 230 mm. (14 x 9").

We have 11 copies available starting at $1,507.32$1,356.59.

The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes
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The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes

by John Gerard; Thomas Johnson

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London: Adam Islip, Joice Norton, and Richard WHitakers, 1636. Leather. Very Good. 13.5" by 9.5". Not Stated. An early edition of John Gerard's important herbal, a sixteenth century guide to the proper care and maintenance of plants, illustrated throughout. The important botanical work of John Gerard, which was first published in 1597. This is the second edition with Johnson's expansions, and the third overall edition. Illustrated profusely throughout.'The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes' was one of the most popular and essential works on gardening in the seventeenth century, a comprehensive resource on the growing and maintaining of plants, with details on their uses in medicine. Though incredibly popular, this was mostly a plagiarised English translation of Rembert Dodoen's 1554 herbal, 'Cruydboeck'. This expansion by Johnson addresses the controversy in the preface. This is the expanded edition by Thomas Johnson; in the thirty-six years since Gerard's first publication had seen such… Read More
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The Herball Or Generall Historie of Plantes...Very much Enlarged and Amended by Thomas Johnson
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The Herball Or Generall Historie of Plantes...Very much Enlarged and Amended by Thomas Johnson

by Gerard, John; Thomas Johnson, editor

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Second Edition overall and first Johnson edition
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Portland, Maine, United States
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London: Printed by Adam Islip, Ioice Norton and Richard Whitakers, 1633. Second Edition overall and first Johnson edition. Hardcover. Very Good+. Second Edition overall and first Johnson edition. Hardcover. From the Library of Oliver Sacks. "This is the first edition enlarged and edited by Thomas Johnson (1595-1644) who corrected many of Gerard's more gullible errors, and improved the accuracy of the illustrations by using Plantin's woodcuts" (Hunt). "So great had been the progress of botany in the thirty-six years since Gerard's original publication, that Johnson added over eight hundred new species to the list, and seven hundred figures, besides numerous corrections. The work, which contains about 2,850 descriptions, is commonly known by the name 'Gerarde emaculatus,' given to it by Ray. Johnson seems, however, to have completed it in a year" (DNB). ESTC S122165; Hunt 223; Nissen 698; Henrey 155. Includes the famous title page engraved by John Payne featuring Ceres, Pomona, Theophrastus and… Read More
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The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. Gathered by John Gerarde of London Master in...
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The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. Gathered by John Gerarde of London Master in Chirvrgerie Very much Enlarged and Amended by Thomas Johnson Citizen and Apothecarye of London

by Gerard, John

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Second Edition
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Hanover, New Hampshire, United States
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London: Adam Islip, Joice Norton & Richard Whitakers, 1633. Second Edition. Full calf. Good +. Christophe Plantin. 2°, 34cm.; ¶8 (Missing A1, blank), ¶¶-¶¶¶6, A-B8, C-6V6, 6X4, 6Y6-7B6 (missing final blank), 859 leaves, pp. [38] 2-1630 [50] [leaves 35-36 misnumbered]. Rebacked with original spine laid down. Corners bumped and worn through. Pages generally clean, title page ever so slightly chipped around edges with light soiling. 2 bookplates on fr. pastedown. This 2nd edition was commissioned by London herbalist Thomas Johnson and enlarged by him, extending and revising Gerard's near translation of Rembert Dodoens 'Pemptades' (1583) with the addition of hundreds of new species and illustrations. Johnson also jettisoned the woodcuts from the 1st edition for ones supplied by Christopher Plantin's press. Includes the famous title page engraved by John Payne featuring Ceres, Pomona, Theophrastus and Dioscorides with John Gerard at bottom.
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The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes Gathered By John Gerarde of London Master in Chirurgerie
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The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes Gathered By John Gerarde of London Master in Chirurgerie

by Gerard, John and John Johnson

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London: Adam Islip, 1633. Thick Folio. Second edition and considered the best edition because of Johnson's expansion and extensive corrections. Johnson added over eight hundred new species and seven hundred new illustrations. Engraved title page, [38], 1630[1], [47]pp. [1pp. errata], as stated by ESTC-Dlr last line begins "sists".In three books. 1. The First Book contains grasses, bushes, reeds, corne, flags, and bulbous or onion-rooted plants. 2. The Second Book contains the description, place, time, names, nature, and vertues of all sorts of herbes, for meat, medicine, or sweet-smelling use. 3. The Third Book contains the description, place, time, names, nature, and vertues of trees, shrubs, busses, fruit-bearing plantes, rosins, gums, roses, heath, mosses, some Indian plants, and other rare plants not remembered in the proeme to the first booke. Also mushrooms, corall, ad their severall kindes. includes the Latin names of the plants and a table of the English names as are attributed to the herbes,… Read More
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The Herball Or Generall Historie of Plantes…Very much Enlarged and Amended by Thomas Johnson

by GERARD, John [1545-1612]

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Used
Edition
Second and Best Edition (first: 1597), the first to be edited by
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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London: Printed by Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers, 1633. Second and Best Edition (first: 1597), the first to be edited by London apothecary and botanist, Thomas Johnson, who contributed extensived revisions and additions. “Gerard is perhaps the best remembered of all the English herbalists.” (Garrison & Morton). A barber surgeon, he supervised the gardens of Lord Burleigh and Theobolds and kept his own famous garden in Holborn for twenty years, for which he issued a list of plants cultivated, the first complete catalogue ever published of the contents of a single garden. According to Arber and the Osler catalogue, Gerard used as the basis of his herbal a translation of Dodoens begun by Robert Priest, but without any acknowledgment, while according to William T.Stearn (DSB), “to what extent Gerard was indebted to Priest’s work is quite uncertain…the Herball as published…was on the whole so massive a task that it seems charitable to credit [Gerard] with the whole. It remains… Read More
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The Herball [Herbal] or Generall [General] Historie of Plants.
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The Herball [Herbal] or Generall [General] Historie of Plants.

by Gerarde, John, [Gerard, John]

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  • Hardcover
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Used
Edition
2nd. Rev. Ed. Printed by Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Wh
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Hardcover
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Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire, United Kingdom
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Fine illustrated and antiquarian Gardening . 2nd. Rev. Ed. Printed by Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers. 1636. pp.[xxxviii], 1632 with engraved title, over 2,500 wood-block engravings plus Indexes and Table of Virtues. Collated and complete. Folio. Hardback. Seven wood-block engravings hand coloured (not dated but in keeping with the practice of the period). Last leaf professionally remargined with loss to a couple of letters only. Other than marking to some margins, as is common with herbals, and some occ. minor spotting the contents are very clean and nr. fine. More recently handsomely rebound in full calf with raised bands and blind ruling decoration, a trifle marked o/w. fine. A very pleasing copy of Thomas Johnson’s expanded version of John Gerarde’s Herball (first published 1597). It is ‘noteworthy for its many corrections, improvements, additions’ (Henrey). Johnson indicated where he had made amendments with obelisk and double obelisk symbols.
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The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes ... very much enlarged and amended by Thomas Johnson
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The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes ... very much enlarged and amended by Thomas Johnson

by Gerard, John

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Used - Later boards, rebacked in half calf, text toned with some light dampstaining
Edition
Third edition
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New York, New York, United States
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London: Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers, 1636. Third edition. Engraved title by John Payne, over 2700 woodcut illustrations to text. [38], 1630 [i.e, 1634], [48] pp. (lacking initial and final blank as usual). Folio. Later boards, rebacked in half calf, text toned with some light dampstaining. Third edition. Engraved title by John Payne, over 2700 woodcut illustrations to text. [38], 1630 [i.e, 1634], [48] pp. (lacking initial and final blank as usual). Folio. John Gerard was a 16th-century English botanist with a large herbal garden in London. His Herball, a 1,484 page illustrated book, was first published in 1597. It was a largely unacknowledged translation of Rembert Dodoen's herbal, itself published in 1554, and popular in Dutch, Latin, French, and in other English translations. This revised and enlarged third edition, the second by Thomas Johnson, corrects many of Gerard's errors and adds 800 new species and 700 woodcuts. This third edition is the most complete edition of… Read More
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Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes, The
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Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes, The

by GERARD, John

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Used
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Calabasas, California, United States
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London: Printed for Adam Islip, Joice Norton, and Richard Whitakers, 1636. Second Printing of the Best Edition Of The Most Famous English Herbal GERARD, John. The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. Gathered by John Gerarde of London, Master in Chirurgerie, Very much Enlarged and Amended by Thomas Johnson, Citizen and Apothecarye of London. London: Printed for Adam Islip, Joice Norton, and Richard Whitakers, 1636. Third edition of Gerard's Herball (first published in 1597), the second edition edited by Thomas Johnson, a reprint of his "very much enlarged and amended" 1633 edition, with the errata corrected in the text. Large folio (13 1/4 x 8 15/16 inches; 337 x 227 mm.). [38], 1630 [i.e, 1634], [1], [1, blank], [46, indexes and tables] pp. Bound without the initial and final blank leaves, as usual. Engraved allegorical title by John Payne and 2,766 woodcut illustrations of plants in the text. Decorative woodcut head- and tail-pieces and initials. Mid-nineteenth-century sprinkled calf,… Read More
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$7,500.00
The herball or Generall historie of plantes. Gathered by Iohn Gerarde of London Master in...
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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

by Gerard, John

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Condition
Used - Full panelled calf, expertly rebacked
Edition
Second edition overall and first Johnson edition
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New York, New York, United States
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London: Printed by Adam Islip Ioice Norton and Richard Whitakers, 1633. Second edition overall and first Johnson edition. Engraved title, woodcut illustrations. [38], 1630, [50] pp. Lacks preliminary and terminal blanks, as usual. 1 vols. Folio. Full panelled calf, expertly rebacked. Second edition overall and first Johnson edition. Engraved title, woodcut illustrations. [38], 1630, [50] pp. Lacks preliminary and terminal blanks, as usual. 1 vols. Folio. "This is the first edition enlarged and edited by Thomas Johnson (1595-1644) who corrected many of Gerard's more gullible errors, and improved the accuracy of the illustrations by using Plantin's woodcuts" (Hunt). "So great had been the progress of botany in the thirty-six years since Gerard's original publication, that Johnson added over eight hundred new species to the list, and seven hundred figures, besides numerous corrections. The work, which contains about 2,850 descriptions, is commonly known by the name 'Gerarde emaculatus,' given to it by… Read More
Item Price
$8,500.00
The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes
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The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes

by GERARD, John

  • Used
Condition
Used - The engraved title page mounted, with tiny losses at corners and inner margin, dedication leaf slightly soiled and stained, a fe
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Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
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London: Adam Islip, Joice Norton, and Richard Whitakers, 1636. The engraved title page mounted, with tiny losses at corners and inner margin, dedication leaf slightly soiled and stained, a few minor spots and stains; binding neatly repaired at joints and extremities; in overall excellent condition.. Thick folio, with more than 2500 woodcut illustrations of plants, as well as numerous other woodcut decorations; contemporary sprinkled calf, spine ornately gilt in wide compartments, red morocco label. A splendid copy of one of the most famous English herbals, here in the second printing of the best edition, Johnson's 'very much enlarged and amended' version which first appeared in 1633. This massive herbal made the barber-surgeon and horticulturist Gerard (1545-1612) famous when its first version appeared in 1597, and it remained highly esteemed for more than 200 years. Gerard's work was based on his experience in his own substantial gardens and as superintendent of several others in and around London,… Read More
Item Price
$8,824.95