Theatrum Botanicum
- Title
- Theatrum Botanicum
- Heading
- A Theatre of Plants
- Description
-
John Parkinson’s Theatrum Botanicum of 1640 was the most extensive English herbal of the seventeenth century. Spanning more than 1600 pages and illustrated with approximately 3800 woodcuts, it attempted to gather together contemporary botanical knowledge into a single monumental reference work. Parkinson, who served as apothecary to Charles I, combined medical, horticultural, and descriptive information about plants cultivated in England and abroad.
The work reflects the growing role of print in organising and disseminating knowledge during the early modern period. Large printed herbals enabled information about plants, remedies, and cultivation techniques to circulate far more widely than manuscript collections or oral instruction alone. The numerous illustrations assisted readers in identifying species and demonstrate the importance of visual as well as textual information in scientific publishing.
Theatrum Botanicum also records England’s expanding engagement with global trade and colonial enterprise. Parkinson includes plants newly introduced into Europe through overseas exploration and commerce, among them the pineapple. Botanical works such as this were therefore connected not only to medicine and natural philosophy but also to imperial expansion and commercial exchange. By gathering together diverse forms of plant knowledge in durable printed form, the book exemplifies the role of print in the consolidation these activities. - Author
- John Parkinson
- Place of Publication
- London
- Publisher
- Thomas Cotes
- Date of Publication
- 1640
- Format
- Folio
- Century
- 17th
- Illustrations
- Woodcut