03-10-2017, 05:41 PM
The practice of collecting the dried specimens to arrange them into books did not occur with any frequency until the 16th and 17th centuries, but herbs had been dried for centuries earlier, in order to store them and transport them.
I find it hard to believe that artists creating the drawings for herbal manuscripts never looked at these for reference, considering that they were surrounded by them in kitchens and marketplaces. Not every drawing in medieval herbals is copied. When the corpus was expanded with new plants, especially in northern areas like England, they added local plants that were not included in the Mediterranean herbals. Some of these were no doubt live plants, but since rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, parsley (the culinary herbs) and many medicinal herbs were dried by cooks and apothecaries, and hung upside-down from walls and shelves for several days before powdering them, they were easily within reaching distance of anyone who wanted to look at one while trying to draw that particular plant.
Also, the practice of arranging dried flowers is centuries old. Women's arts, such as embroidery, lace-making, weaving garlands, making jewelry from hair, etc., included collecting and pressing flowers. I don't know exactly when it started, but it's quite possible this also occurred before scientists started assembling dried specimens into books.
I find it hard to believe that artists creating the drawings for herbal manuscripts never looked at these for reference, considering that they were surrounded by them in kitchens and marketplaces. Not every drawing in medieval herbals is copied. When the corpus was expanded with new plants, especially in northern areas like England, they added local plants that were not included in the Mediterranean herbals. Some of these were no doubt live plants, but since rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, parsley (the culinary herbs) and many medicinal herbs were dried by cooks and apothecaries, and hung upside-down from walls and shelves for several days before powdering them, they were easily within reaching distance of anyone who wanted to look at one while trying to draw that particular plant.
Also, the practice of arranging dried flowers is centuries old. Women's arts, such as embroidery, lace-making, weaving garlands, making jewelry from hair, etc., included collecting and pressing flowers. I don't know exactly when it started, but it's quite possible this also occurred before scientists started assembling dried specimens into books.