Gerard (John)

The Herball Historie of Plantes, edited and enlarged by Thomas Johnson, second edition, Johnson's first edition, errata present, engraved title-page by Payne (1607-1647) incorporating a bust of the author, urns with flowers and herbs, and full-length seated images of Dioscorides and Theophrastus and of Ceres and Pomona, 2766 woodcut botanical illustrations throughout, small repair to title, last 5 leaves also repaired to margins, lacking final blank f., a little soiled and yellowed, later calf, new endpapers, [Henrey 155; Hunt 223; Nissen BBI 698; STC 11751], folio, [Adam Islip, Joice Norton & Richard Whitakers], 1633.

*** First edition of Thomas Johnson's expanded and corrected version of Gerarde's Herball (1st ed. published 1597), the most famous of all English herbals. "Johnson produced an edition that was noteworthy for its many corrections, improvements, and additions" (Hunt 223). For both Johnson editions, many ofthe woodcuts were obtained from the famous Leyden printing and publishing firm of Moretus, successors to the highly famous firm of Plantin.