DODOENS, Rembert.

by Rembert Dodoens

£2,850 · Offered by Sokol Books

.First edition of this lavishly illustrated pocket manual for physicians and botanists - one of the many superbly illustrated works produced by the Plantin press in Antwerp. Rembert Dodoens (or Dodonaeus, 1517-85) was a Flemish botanist, court physician to the Emperors Maximilian II and Rudolph II, and professor of medicine at Leiden. He is most renowned for his works on herbs and their medicinal properties published in Dutch, French, English and Latin, inspired by the contemporary writings of Leonhart Fuchs and, ultimately, by Dioscorides s De materia medica . Dedicated to Philip II of Spain, the present is a study of plants and herbs traditionally used to purge and cleanse the body. For each of the over 100 plants discussed, he provides at least one handsome full-page woodcut. These woodcuts were produced by Peter vander Borcht, under the careful supervision of the botanist Charles L Écluse, and were not originally intended for this work (Kusukawa, p.94). The text accompanying each woodcut includes a short description of the plant s appearance, fruit, alternative names in various languages, habitat, smell, taste (e.g., Coriandrus has a sour and pungent bitterness to it) and the most effective treatments that can be drawn from it, such as oils, liquors, teas and balms. Among the plants are the cyclamen, many types of valerian, bluebell, liquorice, poppy, sassafras and tarragon. Issued with the first work, the appendix depicts over 40 rare herbs and plants, with new woodcuts,

• Binding: Hardcover

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