Herbarius.

Latin.

Incipit Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum.

Venice: Impressum Venetiis per Joannem Rubeum & Bernardinu fratres Vercellenses, anno domini 1509 die xv marcii. An anonymous compilation from classical, Arabic and medieval sources, first published in Mainz in 1484 and variously known under titles: Aggregator practicus de simplicibus; Herbarius in Latino; Herbarius Moguntinus; Herbolarium de virtutibus herbarum . Mistakenly attributed to Arnaldus de Villanova--Cf. Johnston, S. H. Cleveland coll. p. 13. Third ed. to be printed in Venice, 4th in Italy. References: Nissen 2310; Johnston, S. H. Cleveland coll. 25. Lacks final, blank leaf. Ms. notes throughout; some cropped.

This 1509 edition of the Latin Herbarius was printed in Italy and featured 150 woodcuts of plants with text on their medicinal uses. It was written for an audience who had little or no access to doctors, and thus copious illustrations were deemed necessary. These decorative woodcuts were not, however, suitable for field identification, since they were stylized drawings rather than exact reproductions.

There are two major sections of this work: a first part which contains descriptions and the medicinal uses of 150 plants which grew in Germany, and a second part which lists the medicines and herbs available in German apothecary shops and from spice merchants. Each plant was assigned a vernacular German name in addition to the traditional Latin one.

Subjects: Medicinal plants; Vegetables; Pharmacopoeias.

PAT-49