Catalogue of Plants Cultivated in the Garden of John Gerard, in the Years 1596–1599

First published in 1876, this book is the first scholarly study of John Gerard's 1596 catalogue of his extensive garden.

Benjamin Daydon Jackson (Edited by)

9781108037150, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 October 2011

92 pages
29.7 x 21 x 0.5 cm, 0.24 kg

For twenty years, the herbalist John Gerard (1545–1612) served as superintendent of the gardens of Elizabeth I's minister, Lord Burghley. The 1596 edition of Gerard's Catalogus is probably the first complete catalogue of any one garden, public or private, ever published. Describing his own garden, the list includes frankincense, saffron, an almond tree and even tulips, then exotic and notoriously costly. Probably intended originally only for the interest of Gerard's friends, and containing numerous errors, it progressed in 1599 into a new, improved edition for a much wider readership. In this book, first published privately in 1876, the botanist Benjamin Daydon Jackson (1846–1927) reproduces both editions, preserving the original errors and adding a memoir of the author that demonstrates the depth of his own research. With the modern names of the plants printed beside their earlier counterparts, Jackson's text is a fascinating resource for historical botanists and taxonomists.

1. Introduction
2. List of books quoted
3. A life of the author
4. Catalogus, Ed. I. 1596
5. Catalogus, Ed. II. 1599
6. Index to modern names.

Subject Areas: Botany & plant sciences [PST]