Early botany books

1568. William Turner. The first and seconde partes of the herbal.

dedicates it to Queen Elizabeth, who has "four tymes holpen me with your letters patentes"

of adversaries, "some of them will saye / seynge that I graunte that I have gathered this booke of so manye writers / that I offer unto you an heape of other mennis laboures / and nothing of myne owne / and that I goo about to make me frendes with other mennis travayles / and that a booke intreatinge onelye of trees / herbs and wedes / and shrubbes / is not a mete present for a prince. To whom I aunswere / that if the honye that the bees gather out of so manye floure of herbes / shrubbes / and trees / that are growing in other mennis medowes / feldes and closes : maye justelye be called the bees honye : and Plinies booke de naturali historia maye be called his booke / although he have gathered it oute of so manye good writers whom he vouchsaveth to name in the beginninge of his worke : So maye I call it that I have learned and gathered of manye good autours not without great laboure and payne my booke"

• complains that "a craftie covetous and Popishe printer" recently put out his book without his name on it, or his preface attached, but with the printer's own preface, "as though the booke had bene his owne"

mandrake:

1597. John Gerard. The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes.

1597 edition: [1] (goose barnacle tree on pg 1391) 1636 edition expanded by Thomas Johnson: [2] (goose barnacle tree on pg. 1587)