''Herbarius moguntinus'' (Mainzer Herbal Book) or (according to his preface referred to as) ''Aggregator practicus de simplicibus'' is an illustrated Latin

herbal A herbal is a book containing the names and descriptions of plants, usually with information on their medicinal, tonic, culinary, toxic, hallucinatory, aromatic, or magical powers, and the legends associated with them.Arber, p. 14. A herbal m ...

which was edited and printed in 1484 by

Peter Schöffer Peter Schöffer or Petrus Schoeffer (c. 1425 – c. 1503) was an early German printer, who studied in Paris and worked as a manuscript copyist in 1451 before apprenticing with Johannes Gutenberg and joining Johann Fust, a goldsmith, lawyer, and m ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

(Latin: moguntia). Together with the German

Gart der Gesundheit The ''Gart der Gesundheit'' ( Early German for Latin ''hortus sanitatis'') was edited in 1485. It was written by Johann Wonnecke von Kaub and it is one of the first printed herbals in German. It was often reprinted until the 18th century. The ''G ...

'' (Peter Schöffer, Mainz 1485) and the Latin herbal '' Hortus sanitatis'' (Jacobus Meydenbach, Mainz 1491), ''Herbarius moguntinus'' belongs to the so-called " Group of Mainz Herbal Incunabula."

Author

The author of the book is not known for sure. By misinterpreting the title page of a reprint (

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

1491), the book was wrongly attributed to

Arnaldus de Villa Nova Arnaldus de Villa Nova (also called Arnau de Vilanova in Catalan, his language, Arnaldus Villanovanus, Arnaud de Ville-Neuve or Arnaldo de Villanueva, c. 1240–1311) was a physician and a religious reformer. He was also thought to be an alchem ...

. As a possible but not secured author the Frankfurt physician

Johann Wonnecke von Kaub Johann von Wonnecke Caub or Johannes de Cuba (1430–1503), is the attributed author of an early printed book on natural history, which was published in Mainz by Peter Schöffer in 1485 under the name of ''Gart der Gesundheit The ''Gart der Gesu ...

is assumed.

Sources and content

As primary sources the author of the ''Herbarius moguntinus'' used well-known medieval encyclopaedias, such as the '' Liber pandectarum medicinae omnia medicine simplicia continens'' of

Matthaeus Silvaticus Matthaeus Silvaticus or Mattheus Sylvaticus (c. 1280 – c. 1342) was a medieval Latin medical writer and botanist. His Life and Encyclopedia Matthaeus Silvaticus was born in northern Italy, probably Mantua. He was a student and teacher in botan ...

(14th c.) and the '' Speculum natural'' of

Vincent of Beauvais Vincent of Beauvais ( la, Vincentius Bellovacensis or ''Vincentius Burgundus''; c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France. He is known mostly for his ''Speculum Maius'' (''Great mirror''), a major work ...

(13th century). The first part of the book consists of 150 chapters, in which plants are described, that grow wild or cultivated North of the Alps. Each chapter in the first part is illustrated by a woodcut of symbolic character. The second part shows 96 other medicines of indigenous and of foreign origin in abbreviated form. Pictures are missing in the second part.

Woodcuts in the Herbarius moguntinus. Mainz 1484

File:Herbarius Agrimonia1.jpg, Part I, chapter 6 ''

Agrimonia eupatoria ''Agrimonia eupatoria'' is a species of agrimony that is often referred to as common agrimony, church steeples or sticklewort. The whole plant is dark green with numerous soft hairs. The soft hairs aid in the plant's seed pods sticking to any a ...

'' File:Herbarius Artemisia1.jpg, Part I, chapter 12 ''

Artemisia vulgaris ''Artemisia vulgaris'', the common mugwort, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is one of several species in the genus ''Artemisia'' commonly known as mugwort, although ''Artemisia vulgaris'' is the species most ...

'' File:Herbarius Asarum.jpg, Part I, chapter 15 ... ''

Asarum europaeum ''Asarum europaeum'', commonly known as asarabacca, European wild ginger, hazelwort, and wild spikenard, is a species of flowering plant in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, native to large parts of temperate Europe, and also cultivated in ...

'' File:Herbarius Borago Boriß1.jpg, Part I, chapter 23 ... ''

Borago officinalis Borage ( or ; ''Borago officinalis''), also known as starflower, is an annual herb in the flowering plant family Boraginaceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region, and has naturalized in many other locales. It grows satisfactorily in gard ...

'' File:Herbarius Betonica.jpg, Part I, chapter 25 ''

Betonica officinalis ''Betonica officinalis'' ( syn. ''Stachys officinalis''), commonly known as common hedgenettle, betony, purple betony, wood betony, bishopwort, or bishop's wort, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, wes ...

'' File:Herbarius_Bursa_pastoris_Teschenkraut1.jpg, Part I, chapter 28 ''

Capsella bursa-pastoris ''Capsella bursa-pastoris'', known as shepherd's purse because of its triangular flat fruits, which are purse-like, is a small annual and ruderal flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to eastern Europe and Asia minor, ...

'' File:Herbarius Brionia.jpg, Part I, chapter 31 ... ''

Bryonia dioica ''Bryonia dioica'', known by the common names red bryony and white bryony, also English mandrake or ladies' seal, is a perennial climbing vine indigenous to Central and Southern Europe. It is a flowering plant in the cucumber family Cucurbitac ...

'' File:Herbarius_Celidonia_Schelwortz1.jpg, Part I, chapter 44 ''

Chelidonium majus ''Chelidonium majus'', the greater celandine, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. One of two species in the genus ''Chelidonium'', it is native to Europe and western Asia and introduced widely in North Ame ...

'' File:Herbarius Diptamus.jpg, Part I, chapter 50 ''

Dictamnus albus ''Dictamnus albus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae. It is also known as burning bush, dittany, gas plant or fraxinella. This herbaceous perennial has several geographical variants. It is native to warm, open woodland habit ...

'' File:Herbarius Enula.jpg, Part I, chapter 54 ..... ''

Inula helenium Elecampane (''Inula helenium''), pronounced and also called horse-heal or elfdock, is a widespread plant species in the sunflower family Asteraceae. It is native to Eurasia from Spain to Xinjiang province in western China, and naturalized in ...

'' File:Herbarius Glechoma.jpg, Part I, chapter 59 ''

Glechoma hederacea ''Glechoma hederacea'' is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground, creeping charlie, alehoof, tunhoof, catsfoot, field balm, and run-away-robin. It is als ...

'' File:Herbarius Moguntinus Ertrauch1.jpg, Part I, chapter 61 ''

Fumaria officinalis ''Fumaria officinalis'', the common fumitory, drug fumitory or earth smoke, is a herbaceous annual flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It is the most common species of the genus ''Fumaria'' in Western and Central Europe. Descriptio ...

'' File:Herbarius fraxinus.jpg, Part I, chapter 64 ''

Fraxinus ''Fraxinus'' (), common name, commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of Subtropics, subtropic ...

'' File:Herbarius Garb 1.jpg, Part I, chapter 85 ... ''

Achillea millefolium ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

'' File:Herbarius Mora celsi.jpg, Part I, chapter 92 ... '' Morus'' File:Herbarius Mandragora.jpg, Part I, chapter 94 ''

Mandragora officinarum ''Mandragora officinarum'' is the type species of the plant genus '' Mandragora'' in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is often known as mandrake, although this name is also used for other plants. , sources differed significantly in the specie ...

'' File:Herbarius Agrostemma.jpg, Part I, chapter 97 ''

Agrostemma githago ''Agrostemma githago'', the common corn-cockle (also written "corncockle") is a herbaceous annual flowering plant in the pink and carnation family Caryophyllaceae. Description It grows with a stem to long with lanceolate leaves. The flowers ar ...

'' File:Herbarius Nenufar.jpg, Part I, chapter 98 ... ''

Nuphar lutea ''Nuphar lutea'', the yellow water-lily, brandy-bottle, or spadderdock, is an aquatic plant of the family ''Nymphaeaceae'', native to northern temperate and some subtropical regions of Europe, northwest Africa, western Asia, North America, and ...

'' File:Herbarius Satirion.jpg, Part I, chapter 128 ''

Orchis ''Orchis'' is a genus in the orchid family (Orchidaceae), occurring mainly in Europe and Northwest Africa, and ranging as far as Tibet, Mongolia, and Xinjiang. The name is from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις ''orchis'', meaning "testicle", from t ...

'' File:Herbarius Salix.jpg, Part I, chapter 136 ... ''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

Editions and translations

* Mainz. Peter Schöffer 1484. * Speier. Anonymous 1484 *

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

. Johann Veldener. '' Herbarius in Dyetsche. '' 1484. * Leuven. Johann Veldener 1485-86. *

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. Markus Brand 1484. *

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

. Anonymous 1486. * Passau. Anonymous 1486 (further edition). * Paris. Anonymous 1486. *

. Achates et Gul. Papia 1491. *

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. Bevilaqua (Simon Papia) 1499. * Venice. Francesco Bindoni and Maffeo Pasini. '' Herbolario volgare. '' 1536 '' Herbolario volgare, nel quale se dimostra a conoscer le herbe et le sue virtu ... '' Venice 153
(digitized)
Includes 19 additional chapters. See also: Hermann Fischer 1929, pp. 78-79

Notes

{{Authority control Herbals 1480s books