Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution

Agnes Arber's Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution (1912) is a study of plant identification manuals published between 1470 and 1670. Herbals were ancient texts used to identify plants for medicinal purposes. Early herbals, dating back to ancient India and China, were followed by Greek and Roman contributions, such as Dioscorides' De materia medica.12

Medieval European herbals often copied earlier works, with illustrations becoming stylized and inaccurate. However, the 16th century saw a shift towards accuracy with works by botanists like Otto Brunfels, Hieronymus Bock, and Leonhard Fuchs, who incorporated illustrations of newly discovered plants. These herbals were eventually replaced by floras, which studied plants for their own sake.2