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Schreiber > pxxiii
2 to Otus similis to elpant. 5 virtues under
Operations occurs of Gunn time.
p xxiii
Mainz at first wrote the lead in producing scientific
works, in this lead was next taken y Strassburg
1926
THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1926
THE FIRST PRINTED
HERBALS.
Hortus Sanitatis. Deutsch, Mainz, Peter
Schoeffer, 1485. Facsimile with an Intro-
duction (in German) on the Herbals of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by W. L.
Schreiber. (Munich: Verlag der Mün-
chener Drucke. 60 marks.)
It has long been recognized that an im-
portant incident in the early development of
modern science was marked by the group of
men who are usually described as the
"German Fathers of Botany." In the first
half of the sixteenth century these men pro-
duced a series of volumes which exhibited,
especially in their figures, a careful first-hand
study of the habits, form and structure of
plants. Notwithstanding the artistic merits of these
herbals failed of recognition, their apprecia-
tion by connoisseurs has long been reflected in
the prices that they fetch in the sale room.
Deservedly the best known of the early
botanical printed books is that of the great
Swiss botanist Leonhard Fuchs (1501-1566),
who has secured a very considerable priority in
the group of beautiful and graceful plants known
by the name of "Fuchisia." The herbal of
Fuchs was prepared with great scientific de-
liberation, and no less remarkable artistic
judgment. Fuchs himself directed artists and
woodcutters, while the drawings and blocks
were prepared under his direct and constant
personal supervision. The result is an ex-
quisite series of figures which, for many plants,
have not been paralleled, to this day, for either
beauty or accuracy.
The first illustrated herbal to be printed
was a wretched product. Both its figures and
its text were merely copied from a very ancient
manuscript that its editor had discovered, in
the library of the venerable Benedictine
monastery of Montecassino. It was printed at
Rome, and its date has usually been given
as 1484. Dr. Klebs has recently adduced
evidence that it appeared as early as 1481.
The point is less trivial than might be
supposed for it depends the answer to the
question whether this ancient and re-
suscitated work could have influenced the next
illustrated herbal, which was printed at Mainz
in 1483. We believe that such influence can
be shown and that therefore a date earlier than
1484 must be assigned to this Roman herbal.
The first edition of the next work of the
kind is known to bibliographers as the
"Herbarius Latinus," and was issued by
Peter Schoeffer (c. 1420-c. 1500), the well-
known printer of Mainz. Schoeffer had been
the pupil and successor of the founders of
German printing, Gutenberg and Fust. This
first herbal, which was also the first that
appeared in Germany, contains descriptions
and figures of 150 plants. The book became
popular at once, but was very frequently
pirated. No sooner had it appeared, how-
ever, than its energetic publisher embarked on
a much more extensive scheme of the same
series, which was completed in 1491.