Navigation
From Theodor de Bry, Admiranda narratio (Frankfurt, 1590)
Lilio-Narcissus coccineus, from Mathias do l'Obel, Icones stirpium seu plantarum, (Antwerp, 1591)
From Robert Plot, The natural history of Oxford-shire (Oxford, 1677)
To search the Library catalogue use the catalogue search page.
Recent Library news
Detail from an illustration in Worlidge, Systema horti-culturæ (London, 1677)
From Pierre Pomet, A compleat history of druggs (London, 1725)
Detail from an illustration in Agricola, A philosophical treatise of husbandry (London, 1721)
The Mandrake, from Apollinaris, Kurtz Büchlin (Frankfurt, 1561)
2000 Exhibition
This exhibition finished in May 2001, and the items described here are no longer on public display in the Library. Information about current Library exhibitions is available on our events page.
Leaves from the Past
An exhibition of Marsh's Botanical Books
The exhibition was opened in the Library by Helen Dillon on 1st June 2000 and was open to the public until the end of May 2001. The following is the short description of the exhibition that was published at the time, and the illustrations on this page are taken from the exhibition.
This exhibition will have great appeal for visitors interested in gardens. There are some very rare and spectacular 16th and 17th century herbals and gardening books in various languages, with beautiful and splendid illustrations.
On display are books by some of the greatest European botanists such as Clusius, Linnaeus, Rembert Dodoens, Sir Kenelm Digby, Nehemiah Grew, John Gerard, Leonhard Fuchs, John Ray, and Matthias de l'Obel after whom the lobelia was named.
Many of these books are superbly illustrated by the most renowned botanical artists of the 17th century, including Pierre van der Borcht and the artist to the French Court, Daniel Rabel. These illustrations consist of copper plates, woodcuts and engravings. They include the first pictures of rare trees, vines, herbs, nuts and fruits of America and Mexico.
One of the greatest gardeners of the past, Jean de la Quintinye, who created for King Louis XIV the most magnificent kitchen garden in the world, is represented in this exhibition. There are also accounts and illustrations of some delightful fountains, including amusing trick fountains that sprayed passers-by as they came close.
Visitors will be intrigued by the illustration of the mandrake plant, which is believed to have shrieked when plucked. As Shakespeare's Juliet said: 'And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth, that living mortals hearing them run mad'.
This exhibition will be a delight and a pleasure for everyone: not only of interest to the botanist, but also a guide to the gardener, an inspiration to the flower-painter and a treasure-house for the historian and bibliographer. Above all, it will fascinate anyone who has ever tried to make a garden, or noticed the wild flowers at their feet.
© 2010 Governors and Guardians of Marsh's Library
