PBA Galleries

viii, xl, 376 pp. 54 fine hand-colored plates illustrating 150 plants. (8vo) early calf-backed boards, rebacked with old spine leather laid down. First Bungay edition (and first newly-illustrated edition, greatly enlarging the plate count from the original eight to 54). 

The colorful "Sir" John Hill first published his popular herbal in 1754, with only eight plates.  In an age when herbals were relied upon by families for the home preparation of medical remedies, the importance of such works is obvious.  Hill, though considered a quack in some respects, produced the first Linnaean flora of Britain, and was a physician, botanist, and writer of considerable skill.  Wellcome, III, p. 264.  Henry, III, 827.  Nissen BBI, 883.  See Hunt Catalogue, II, Part II, 551.  See Rohde, The Old English Herbals, p. 222.