spared to make the bibliographies as complete as
possible, but I should be glad to be told of any errors or omissions.
There are certain editions of _Banckes's Herbal_ and _The Grete
Herball_ mentioned by authorities such as Ames, Hazlitt, etc., of
which no copies can now be found in the chief British libraries (see
p. 204 _et seq._). If any copies of these editions are in private
libraries I should be grateful to hear of them. The rarest printed
herbal is "_Arbolayre conten[=a]t la qualitey et vertus proprietiez
des herbes g[=o]mes et sim[=e]ces extraite de plusiers tratiers de
medicine co[=m]ent davicene de rasis de constatin de ysaac et
plateaire selon le co[=n]u usaige bien correct_." (Supposed to have
been printed by M. Husz at Lyons.) It is believed that there are only
two copies of this book now extant. One is in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris; the other was sold in London, March 23, 1898, but I
have been unable to discover who is the present owner. For this or any
other information I should be most grateful.

ELEANOUR SINCLAIR ROHDE.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] It is a remarkable fact that even the eleventh edition of the
omniscient _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ has no article on Herbals.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
PAGE

THE ANGLO-SAXON HERBALS 1

Evidence of the existence of books on herbs in the eighth
century--Tenth-century manuscripts--Their importance as the
first records of Anglo-Saxon plant lore and of folk medicine
of a still earlier age--Preliminary survey of the more
important manuscripts--_Leech Book of Bald_--Authorship and
origin--Oldest Leech Book written in the vernacular in
Europe--Saxon translation of the _Herbarium Apuleii
Platonici_--Illustrations--Saxon translation of the +Peri
Didaxeon+--The _Lacnunga_--Importance of these manuscripts
to the student of folk lore--Folk lore of the origin of
disease--Doctrine of the "elf-shot"--"Flying
venom"--Doctrine of the worm as the ultimate source of
disease--Demoniac possession--Herbal
remedies--Picturesqueness of Saxon methods of treating
diseases--Smoking patient with fumes of herbs--Cattle
similarly treated--Use of herbs as amulets--Binding on with
red wool--Specially sacred herbs--Charms and incantations to
be used in pickin