The Lasting Presence of Gerard's Herball

intimate knowledge of the plants. At the same time, according to Arber (1953), in
antiquity “…herb gatherers evidently aimed at creating a monopoly by fencing their craft
about with all manner of superstitions handed down by word of mouth, most of which
[warned] that herb collecting was too complicated and dangerous a pursuit for the
uninitiated” (p.7). Throughout its history, the herbal has included a mix of myth, fantasy,
and fact.
In many ways, Gerard’s Herball sits at a meeting place between the paths described
above. In this section and the next, I explore the ways in which botanists affected change
in the Herball and suggest that the Herball in turn gave a nudge to botanists.
Gunther (1922) notes that the 1597 edition of Gerard’s Herball was problematic from
a botanical point of view. Botanists at the time were interested in scientific accuracy, and
while Gerard’s work was popular, the woodcuts and descriptions were not always
properly matched. In addition, the woodcuts were from Christophe Plantin’s famous
collection in Belgium, created in the 16 th century and used to illustrate the herbals of
l’Obel, Dodoens, and de l’Ecluse (Arber, 1953). Gerard’s text, recall, is largely a
translation of Dodoens’ work. Thus, comprised of woodcuts and descriptions of plants
from other places, the Herball of 1597 was not necessarily useful for identifying plants in
England. Both John Goodyer and Thomas Johnson left their own gardens to look at
native plants growing wild. Goodyer, who contributed plant descriptions and names to
the revised edition of Gerard’s work, placed important emphasis on the locations and
proper identifying characteristics of plants found in England. Gunther (1922) points to
the notes Goodyer sent to Johnson as examples of Goodyer’s attention to detail.
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