Hunt Institute Archives Text Discovery Platform

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The preface of the German edition is composed of 33 short chapters. In the twentieth of them Brunnfels gives his opinion about the older herbals. He begins by telling, that "manuscripts" with painted plant-pictures have been much asked for and well paid for during the last 30 years; then he mentions the printed editions with the following words:" Others have undertaken to print them, and we have seen many and various specimens of them, but as they wanted to save expense and also perhaps were inexperienced in the true art, they were all spoiled and nothing decent, so for instance the figures, which were only copied (?), and the text, which to the greater part is wrong and taken from careless, despicable books." ("Die anderen aber haben soliche in dem Truck understanden, wie wir derselbigen vilfaltig und mancherley gat-tung gesehen, aber diweil sye den kosten gespart und villeicht auch der waren kunst nicht bericht, elle verhympelt und nichts rechtschaffenes wor-den, so der figuren halb, die blüsslich gefyssiert, so der beschreibung, welche des martheyl falsch vnd auss nochgültigen versachtlichen bücheren gezogen.") - Much as this hard judgment may have been justified as far as the Strasbourg reprints were concerned, it was rather unjust with regard to the old Mainz editions, as those had attempted the greatest possible perfection and completeness, while Brunnfels himself limited his work to the native herbs, leaving away all doubtful exotic plants. Also the painters had, during those 40 years, made a certain amount of progress in observation and reproduction of nature, a fact which from which his book benefited.

In spite of all its advantages, Brunnfels' work wasn't much of an asset to its publisher, and it is easy to see why: The big illustrations, which only showed the outline, may have been sufficient for the expert, but couldn't possibly satisfy the general public, for whom the pictures