Author Description

"This manuscript facsimile contains the Discorsi, an Italian herbal that provides commentary on the herbal, De Materia Medica of the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides (d. 90 BC), written by Pietro Andrea Mattioli (b. 1501, d. 1577), a naturalist and physician of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, and of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. Mattioli has relied on writings by Arabic scholars, and discoveries made in the Orient and America, to add a large number of plants (not all for their medical uses) to those of the Materia Medica. His Latin translation of the Italian text was widely printed in various editions and became a standard work at Italian universities. This manuscript of the original Italian text was assembled and illustrated by Gherardo Cibo (b. 1512, d. 1600), a botanist in Arcevia and nephew of Caterina Cibo, Duchess of Camerino, who, unlike most botanists who relied on artists, illustrated the plants he collected. Cibo was the first to develop the image of the botanist: in many illustrations the botanist is depicted at work, discovering, collecting and studying nature, which emphasised the importance of studying specimens in their local environments. Add MS 22333 contains the same texts and illustrations by Cibo, but also contains a copy of a letter from Mattioli in which he praises Cibo for his work. The oldest surviving herbarium (a collection of pressed and dried plants) is that of Gherardo Cibo, who began to collect plants at least as early as 1532."--