Vitus Auslasser's herbal (1479)

[-JKP-]

Helmut Winkler Wrote: Hi Anton,

he wrote ainper and we read ainper, that isa question of internal logic

Hi VViews,

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and Daems, Willem Frans, Auslasser, Veit  in: Verfasserlexikon 1 (1978),     Sp. 552-553, and I am sorry to say, you will have to use a library

It's not Ainper. Anyone who copied that from Auslasser in the old days, and those who re-copied from them, got it wrong (and I got it wrong the first time I looked at it and assumed an A). Anton's instincts about Ainper maybe originating from Auslasser are probably correct.


So, here's my evidence, since I know this is not going to be accepted until you really look at it...

It's not an A. Other scribes write A like that but HE doesn't write A like that, he writes "I" like that. The A is rounded, the I always has a long hook to the left.


Here is what I see. Look at the A, the I, and the small "m". That slight extra line across the capital-I can be mistaken for a crossbar on a capital-A but he does not write A in that style. Imbeer-kraut is Einbeere, also written Embeere (with "m"), both of which are common names for Paris.

It's Imper chrawt and we all know the p is used for b in many words throughout Auslasser's herbal, so that gives us Imber which can be pronounced Imbeer and the name Imbeer-kraut is attested to in Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des christlichen Samariters (Trautner, 1731, p. 294 on Google Books scan). In Freywillig, it says it's used for Blut harnen (blood in the urine), which probably refers to bladder infections.

Those who interpreted the text in the past may have been more knowledgeable about plants than about paleography and misread the handwriting.