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Book of the Month

Hortus Sanitatis (The Garden of Health) - July 2003

Hortus Sanitatis. Mainz: Jacob Meydenbach, 1491. [St. Thomas's Historical Medical Collection S2 c. 4].

Hortus Sanitatis. Strasbourg: Johann Prüss c. 1497. [Rare Books Collection FOL. RS 79 HOR].

by Hugh Cahill, Senior Information Assistant, Foyle Special Collections Library

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(fig 1.) Apothecary's Shop from Hortus Sanitatis, Strasbourg edition printed by Johann Prüss c. 1497.

The Hortus Sanitatis or the Ortus Sanitatis (the origin of health), as it is also known, is in the tradition of the medieval herbals. It is partly based on Der Gart der Gesundheit (Garden of Health), which is sometimes attributed to Johann von Cube, and was originally printed by Peter Schoeffer at Mainz in 1485. However, it should be regarded as a separate work as it covered nearly a hundred more medicinal plants than the Gart der Gesundheit and also included extensive sections on animals, birds, fish and minerals, as well as a treatise on urine. The authorship of this lavishly illustrated herbal is unknown but it is generally believed to have been compiled by its printer, Jacob Meydenbach. It was first printed in 1491 in Mainz and is therefore the last major medical work to cover medicines from the Old World only.

There are two copies of this great work in the Foyle Special Collections Library. The first copy is part of the historical medical collection of St. Thomas's Hospital and is a hand coloured copy of Meydenbach's 1491 edition [St. Thomas's Historical Medical Collection S2 c. 4]. The second copy is from the library of Douglas Charles Harrod, 1910-1994, a former Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy at King's and is a copy of the Strasbourg edition printed by Johann Prüss in around 1497 [Rare Books Collection FOL. RS 79 HOR].

(fig.2) The Tree of Life from the first edition of Hortus Sanitatis printed by Jacob Meydenbach at Mainz, 1491.

The text is a compilation of earlier sources, such as Galen, Albertus Magnus and Dioscorides and is lavishly illustrated. Most of the 1,066 chapters of the first edition are headed by a woodcut and there were also several full page woodcuts (sadly missing from the King's copy). Many of the woodcuts in Meydenbach's edition were based on illustrations from editons of Gart der Gesundheit. However, Meydenbach had to provide several hundred additional illustrations for plants not included in Gart der Gesundheit and also for the sections on animals, birds, fish and minerals.When the two editions in the possession of King's are compared it is clear that many of the woodcuts in the edition of Prüss are based on those of the earlier Meydenbach edition, with some changes made to clothing to reflect local fashion. Prüss produced three editions of Hortus Sanitatis, which were printed more economically than Meydenbach's edition using a smaller typeface and 55 lines to the column.

Although it purported to have a serious medical purpose and many of the flowers or roots included retain a use today, many of the entries are fantastical in nature. For example, it states anyone that eats of the fruit of the "Tree of Paradise" (see fig 2.) will never suffer sickness or tiredness again. Furthermore, while some of the illustrations of the plants are accurate many others are unreliable and are of little practical use to a reader trying to identify a particular medicinal herb. One useful feature of the Hortus Sanitatis is its comprehensive index. Ailments and diseases could be looked up in this index and cures for them were listed by chapter and line and letters in the index correspond with letters in the margins of the text.

( fig 3.) Maiden and Unicorn from first edition of Hortus Sanitatis printed by Jacob Meydenbach, Mainz, 1491.

The sections on animals and fish are reminiscient of a medieval bestiary. There are images of harpies, centaurs, mermen, mermaids and and unicorns. The qualities of each creature are given in vivid detail. We learn, for example, that the unicorn is easily captured, as at the sight of a virgin it would approach her and put its head in her lap (see fig. 3). The qualities of stones and minerals are also very detailed. The lodestone could help bring back an errant spouse and could also help detect infidelity. If placed under a pilllow an errant wife would be given nightmares so severe that she would leap from her bed in terror but a faithful wife would sleep well. Sailors should beware of lodestone, however, as it was known to cause shipwrecks by drawing nails and other iron parts of a ship towards itself (see fig. 4).

Shipwreck caused by loadstone from Hortus Sanitatis printed by Jacob Meydenbach, Mainz, 1491.

Hortus Sanitatis was a popular book and went through a number of editions during the late 15th century and the first half of the 16th century. It was translated, in its entirety or in part, into French, English, German and Dutch. A number of abridged versions were also produced. These often only contained the sections on animals and stones, as these were the most popular with the non medical public. One notable abridgement is The Noble Lyfe and Natures of Man, translated by Lawrence Andrews from an earlier abridged Dutch version, and printed by him around 1521. Only two copies of this version survive.

The last complete edition of the Hortus Sanitatis was printed in Frankfurt by Herman Gulfferich in 1552. By this time a new more scientific approach to botany was arising throughout Europe, which meant that books such as Hortus Sanitatis were being superceded. Men such as William Turner (d. 1568) author of A New herball, London, 1551, were begining to rely more on observation than on authority and began to discarded many of the superstitious beliefs found in earlier botanical and herbal works. In the works of Gaspard Bauhin (1560-1624) we begin to see the beginings of classification. Bauhin began to group plants according to their affinities and pioneered binomial nomenclature. His Pinax theatri botanici printed in Basel in 1623, organized the names and synonyms of 6,000 species and dominated botany for a century. Furthermore, illustration of botanical works improved. The representations of plants by artists such Hans van Weiditz (fl. ca.1516-1536), who illustrated Herbarum vivae eicones by Otto Brunfels (1488-1534), ensured that the plants described in the text began to be able to be identified by their representations. The time for works like Hortus Sanitatis had past.

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Some other notable herbals in our collections include:

Elizabeth Blackwell . A curious herbal.London : printed for John Nourse, 1739. [Rare Books collection FOL. QK98.2 BLA]

Otto Brunfels. Herbarum vivae eicones.Argent. [Strasbourg] : per Io. Schottum, 1530. [Rare Books Collection FOL. QK75 BRU]

John Gerard.The herball or generall historie of plantes. London : printed by Adam Islip, Joice Norton & Richard Whitakers, 1633. [Rare Books Collection FOL. QK75 GER]

Parkinson, John. Theatrum botanicum: the theater of plants. London : printed by Thomas Cotes , 1640. [Rare Books Collection FOL. QK41 PAR]

Further reading and books used in the compilation of this piece:

An early English version of Hortus Sanitatis. ed. Noel Hudson. London : Quaritch, [1954].

F.J. Anderson. An illustrated history of the herbals. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977.

Agnes Arber. Herbals, 3rd. ed.Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1986.

E. Shaffer. The garden of health : an account of two herbals, the Gart der Gesundheit and the Hortus sanitatis. [San Francisco] : Book Club of California, 1957.