SC - Re Gerard's Herbal

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

>>>>>From: Richard Keith <keith.78 at osu.edu>
Just got a copy of Gerald's herbal.  Now I must get a permanent copy for
myself.<<<<

Did you get the full bells and whistles Dover edition (10 pounds or so
& $100) or just the little Dover abridged version?

>>>>Question:  Are the Latin names he has given correct.  IE, could I start
looking for modern plants my the family name?Subject: SC - Gerald's
Herbal<<<<

No, they are not at all accurate, or at least dependably accurate
in a consistant manner.  Even contemporary taxonomy is still reclassifying
and renaming species and reassigning families.  Any modern plant
book over 10 years old is partially obsolete.  The old Herbals bounce
bad Latin and Greek all over the place and it is difficult sometimes to
figure out what plant they are naming.  The illustrations are often the
only way to guess what they are talking about as they often are
describing non-existant amd imaginary species based on legend and
rumour.

>>>>Has anyone ever gone through and listed his multi lingual references to
things?  Looks like a good project if it has not been done.  Or looked up
what modern equivalents are.<<<<

I doubt that anyone has done so, as Gerard's command of other
languages was about as good as his Latin and Greek.  In other words,
rather poor.  If anyone has the credentials to do multiple translation
from 8-10 period languages and dialects (with a lot of misspelled or
inaccurate words in Gerard)  into their modern idioms and then, from
there into modern English, I admire their intellectual capacity.
It is certainly beyond me.  One must remember that Gerard
plagurized the bulk of the work in The Herbal from translations
of another work by another person.  His scholastic credentials
are about as good as a modern person running a commercial
nursery and landscaping operation today.   Approach Gerard
with caution as he introjects a great deal of popular hearsay into
his work.  You probably need a fair amount of modern botanical
study to select the accurate from the false in The Herbal.
This is especially an essential credential for anyone trying
multi-lingual documentations from this source.  A working
knowledge ofmodern botony would be essential to making the
outcome of the final analysis be of value.

Akim Yaroslavich
"No glory comes without pain"