Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1426

WILLIAM PAUL CRILLON BARTON (1786-1856) Vegetable materia medica of the United States. M. Carey 1817-1818 Vol. I: xv, 273 pp., 25 col. plates; Vol. II: xvi, 243 pp., 25 col. plates. 27.5 cm.

This work along with Jacob Bigelow's American medical botany (see No. 1444) were the first botanical works with colored plates to be published in the United States. Both Barton and Bigelow studied under the former's uncle, Benjamin Smith Barton (see No. 1209) and he may have inspired them to produce their botanical compilations. However, neither man knew of the other's intentions and each produced works that differed in scope. Barton's work contains fewer entries than Bigelow's and Barton had much less difficulty finding colorists for his illustrations than Bigelow who had to resort to a color-printing process instead of hand-coloring. Although the plates are all colored in this copy, not all copies of the work were colored throughout and, in some instances, were not colored at all. In this set, forty-nine different plants, shrubs, and trees are depicted in fifty plates, the illustration of magnolia glauca being in duplicate. There is a description of the geographical distribution, appearance of the roots, main plant, flower and fruit or seed, as well as the medical properties of each specimen.

See Related Record(s): 1444 1209

Cited references: Austin 149; Cushing B145; Garrison-Morton 1841; Wellcome II, p. 110

Gift of John Martin, M.D.