Theatrum botanicum the theater of plants or An herball of large extent Containing therein a more ample and exact history and declaration of the physicall herbs and plants distributed into sundry classes or tribes, for the more easie knowledge of the many by Parkinson, John - 1640

London: Thomas Cotes, 1640. First edition. Large thick folio, title page, dedication page, preface two pages, author's tributes ten pages, then (ii), 1734 (but actually slightly less as there are several errors of pagination), illustrated with over 2,100 woodcut figures, lacking the extra engraved title page, the 20-page addenda at the rear and the errata leaf, but otherwise complete and very sound. The contents are extremely clean and tight, there is the odd crease and an occasional tiny corner missing but overall in impressive condition. The front and rear endpapers are a little browned and marked, both front and rear hinges are cracked and showing a little silver-fish damage but there is no weakness at all. Full panelled calf, probably eighteenth century but possibly earlier, a little rubbed, a little worn at the edges, scuffed on the upper cover, rebacked fairly recently with a leather spine and red morocco label. Blanche Henrey 286. [ Very heavy - extra postage will be required.]. [John Parkinson (1567 - 1650) was both the last of the great English herbalists and one of the first of the great English botanists. He was apothecary to James I and a founding member of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in December 1617, and was later Royal Botanist to Charles I. The Theatrum was the most complete and beautifully presented English treatise on plants of its time. One of the most eminent gardeners of his day, he kept a botanical garden at Long Acre in Covent Garden, today close to Trafalgar Square, and maintained close relations with other important English and Continental botanists, herbalists and plantsmen. . First Edition. Full-Leather. Very Good.