About the Author

John Gerard (1545-1612) was an English gardener and botanist. First published in 1597, his great Herbal was largely based on an English translation of a Dutch source, Rembert Dodoens' Latin herbal of 1583, and most of the illustrations were also from previously published sources. Nevertheless, it quickly became the most popular and best known early English botany book. Thomas Johnson (d. 1644) was a London botanist and apothecary. He added about 800 species and approximately 700 new illustrations plus various corrections to Gerard's original text. He was about 40 years old when he died from wounds received during an English civil war battle.