Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 347.5

ADAM LONICER (1528-1586) Kreuterbuch, kunstliche Conterfeytunge der Bäume, Stauden, Hecken, Kreuter, Getreyde, Gewürtze. Bey Christian Egenolffs seligen Erben 1587 [14], CCCLXXXII, [3] leaves : color illustrations. 31 cm.

Lonicer married the daughter of a printer who specialized in herbals, and he worked as a proof reader for his father-in-law while beginning his own career of writing on arithmetic, botany and medicine. First published in 1546, the present work went through several subsequent editions, being reissued as late as 1783. The text covers all three parts of the natural world and directs its remarks to a wide audience that includes physicians, apothecaries, and both rural and urban householders. The emphasis is on how one uses animal, vegetable and mineral substances in the production of medicinal, gastronomical, and household preparations. Lonicer provides us with one of the early descriptions of local flora, and, among his other accomplishments, he is one of the first to distinguish deciduous trees from conifers.

Cited references: NLM, 2849; Wellcome I, 3856

John Martin, M.D. Endowment