HERBALISTS BIBLE: JOHN PARKINSONS LOST CLASSIC REDISCOVERED

Herbalist to King Charles I, John Parkinson (1567–1650) was a master apothecary, herbalist and gardener. Famous in his own lifetime for his influential books, his magnum opus was published in 1640, the Theatrum Botanicum, which ran to 1,788 large pages. This editor’s selection, combines Parkinson’s clear and lively description of a chosen plant’s ‘vertues’ or healing properties, with a modern commentary and a contemporary take on his almost-forgotten herbal recipes. Busy herbalists, historians and gardeners will welcome this restoration and sensitive highlighting of a lost classic.