Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution: A Chapter in the History of Botany 1470-1670Arber, Agnes Robertson
History
Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution: A Chapter in the History of Botany 1470-1670
Arber, Agnes Robertson
Botany -- Europe -- History; Herbals -- Europe -- History
Fuchs’ wood-cuts were extensively pirated, especially those on a
reduced scale, which were published in his edition of 1545. As we
have mentioned on p. 55, Hieronymus Bock [or Tragus] undoubtedly
made use of them in the second edition of his ‘Kreuter Bůch’ (1546)
which was the next important, illustrated botanical work to appear
after Fuchs’ herbal. An examination of the wood-cuts in Bock’s herbal
seems, however, to show that his illustrations have more claim to
originality than is often supposed. The figures of Wintergreen
(Text-fig. 90), Moonwort (Text-fig. 91), and Strawberry (Text-fig. 27),
here reproduced, are markedly different from those of Fuchs, although,
in the case of the first, Fuchs’ wood-cut may have been used to some
extent. The artist employed by Bock, as he himself tells us, was David
Kandel, a young lad, the son of a burgher of Strasburg. His drawings
are often of interest, apart from their botanical aspect. For instance,
the picture of an Oak tree includes, appropriately enough, a swine-herd
with his swine, the Chestnut tree gives occasion for a hedgehog
(Text-fig. 92) and, in another case, a monkey and several rabbits are
introduced, one of the latter holding a shield bearing the artist’s
initials. The wood-cut of _Trapa_, the Bull-nut (Text-fig. 29), is a
highly imaginative production which clearly shows that neither the
artist nor the author had ever seen the plant in question.
[Illustration: Text-fig. 93. “Fungi” = Toadstools [Mattioli,
Commentarii, 1560]. _Reduced._]
In general character, Bock’s illustrations are neater and more
conventional than those of Brunfels or Fuchs. The crowns of the trees
are often made practically square so as to fit the block (Text-fig.
92). The figures in earlier works, such as the ‘Ortus Sanitatis,’ are
recalled in Kandel’s disregard of the proportion between the size of
the tree, and that of the leaves and fruits.
[Illustration: Text-fig. 94. “Rosaceum” [Mattioli, Commentarii, 1560].
_Reduced._]
[Illustration: Text-fig. 95. “Suber Primus” [Mattioli, Commentarii,
1565]. _Reduced._]
In point of time, the illustrations to the early editions of Mattioli’s
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides follow fairly closely on
those of Fuchs, but they are extremely different in style (Text-figs.
41, 42, 93, 94). Details such as the veins and hairs of the leaves
are often elaborately worked out, while shading is much used, a
considerable mastery of parallel lines being shown. The general effect
is occasionally somewhat flat and dull. Some of the drawings suggest
that they may have been done from dried plants, and in others the
treatment is over-crowded. But, in spite of these defects, they form a
markedly individual contribution, which is of great importance in the
history of botanical illustration.
[Illustration: Text-fig. 96. “Tragorchis” = _Orchis hircina_ L., Lizard
Orchis [Dodoens, Pemptades, 1583].]
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