Leaf from Gart Der Gesundheit (The Garden of Health)
Author: Johann von Cube
Printer: Peter Schöffer, German
Date: 1485
Dimensions:
Overall: 7 5/8 x 10 1/2 in. (19.3 x 26.6 cm)
Medium: Hand colored woodcut
Place of Origin: Germany (Mainz)
Classification: Books
Object number: 1929.173
Label Text:Herbals were important medical books in the fifteenth century. This is a leaf with a hand-colored woodcut illustration from one of the major herbals Schoffer produced. While some illustrations were copied from manuscript sources, some, like this one, were probably drawn from nature - an unusual practice at the time. The author, a Frankfurt doctor named von Cube, claimed to have compiled his first text from standard ancient herbal sources as well as from direct study when he traveled to Italy, Greece, the Holy Land, Arabia, Babalonia, and Egypt in search of herbs.
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