Contents

Acknowl edgments xi Introduction 1

PART 1. Natu ral Philosophy and Natu ral Knowledge 9 Hebrew Bible, Genesis 1 13 Aristotle, Physics 15 Lucretius, De rerum natura, or On the Nature of Things 20 Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia, or Natu ral History, On the Nature of the Earth 24 Avicenna, The Canon of Medicine, On the Ele ments 26 Hildegard of Bingen, Causae et curae, or Causes and Cures 28 Alain de Lille, De planctu naturae, or The Complaint of Nature 30 Roger Bacon, Opus majus, or Greater Work 34 Saint Thomas Aquinas,Quaestiones disputatae de potentia dei, or Disputed Questions on the Power of God 37 Pseudo- Albertus Magnus, The Book of the Secrets of Albertus Magnus 38 Giambattista della Porta, Magia naturalis, or Natu ral Magic 43 Guillaume du Bartas, La sepmaine ou creation du monde, or Divine Weeks and Works, On the Seventh Day 48 Hugh Platt, Floraes Paradise 52 Francis Bacon, Novum organum, or New Organon, and New Atlantis 54 Hannah Wolley, The Ladies Directory 60 Margaret Cavendish, The Blazing World 61 Thomas Sprat, History of the Royal Society 65 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, “First Dream” 66

PART 2. Plants 73 Theophrastus, De causis plantarum, or On the Causes of Plants 75 Aristotle, De anima, or Of the Soul 77 vi Contents

Dioscorides, De materia medica, or Herbal 78 Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia, or Natu ral History, On Flowers 82 Pseudo- Apuleius, The Old En glish Herbarium 84 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Legend of GoodWomen 86 Pierre de Ronsard, “Ode to Cassandra” 88 Leonhart Fuchs, De historia stirpium, or On the History of Plants 89 William Turner, A New Herbal 92 John Gerard, The Herbal or General History of Plants 95 Guillaume du Bartas, La sepmaine ou creation du monde, or Divine Weeks and Works, On Aconite 100 William Lawson, A New Orchard and Garden, On the Cultivation of Trees 102 John Parkinson, Paradisi in Sole: Paradisus Terrestris, On Auriculas 103 George Herbert, “The Flower” 109 Ralph Austen, A Treatise of Fruit Trees, and The Spiritual Use of an Orchard or Garden of Fruit Trees 111 Johanna St. John, Manuscript Recipes 113 Samuel Gilbert, Florist’s Vade- Mecum, On Auriculas 113

PART 3. Animals 117 Aristotle, Historia animalium, or The History of Animals 118 Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia, or Natu ral History, On Animals 123 Physiologus 125 Bartholomaeus Anglicus, De proprietatibus rerum, or On the Properties of Things 127 Second- Family Bestiary 130 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 131 Geoffrey Chaucer,The Parliament of Fowls 135 Marie de France, Fables 139 John Lydgate, “The Debate of the Horse, Goose, and Sheep” 140 Anselm Turmeda, The Disputation of the Donkey 142 Michel de Montaigne, “An Apology for Raymond Sebond” 146 John Caius, Of En glish Dogges 149 Thomas Johnson,Cornucopiae 151 Edward Topsell, The History of Four- Footed Beasts 153 Gervase Markham, Markham’s Masterpiece 157 Contents vii

Hester Pulter, “The Ugly Spider” 160 Richard Lovelace, “The Snail” 162 Margaret Cavendish, Grounds of Natu ral Philosophy 165 Robert Hooke, Micrographia 166

PART 4. Weather, Climate, and Seasons 171 Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, Places 172 Aristotle, Meteorologica, or Meteorology 175 Virgil, Georgics, Book 1, On the Storm 177 Pseudo- Aristotle, Secreta secretorum, or The Secret of Secrets 180 Avicenna, The Canon of Medicine, On Climate 182 Wandalbert of Prüm, On the Names, Signs, Times of Planting, and Qualities of Weather of the Twelve Months 183 William Ram, Rams Little Dodoen 186 Thomas Tusser,An Hundredth Pointes of Good Husbandrie 189 William Shakespeare, King Lear 192 Amelia Lanyer, “The Description of Cookham” 195 William Shakespeare, The Tempest 201 Thomas Jackson, The Raging Tempest Stilled 204 Thomas Sprat and Robert Hooke, History of the Royal Society, On Weather 206 Samuel Gilbert, Florist’s Vade- Mecum, Instructions for July 208

PART 5. Inhabiting the Land 211 Theocritus, Idyll 7 213 Virgil, Eclogue 1 216 Virgil, Georgics, On Farming 220 Columella, Res rustica, or On Agriculture, On Farming 224 Walter of Henley, Dite de hosbondrie, or Boke of Husbandrye 226 William Langland, Piers Plowman 228 Second Shepherd’s Play, from the Wakefield Mystery Plays 232 Jacopo Sannazaro, Arcadia 234 Thomas More, Utopia 236 Thomas Tusser, Five Hundredth Pointes of Good Husbandrie 238 William Harrison, Description of England 239 Edmund Spenser, The Shephearde’s Calendar 241 Gervase Markham, The En glish Husbandman, On Farming 245 Ben Jonson, “To Penshurst” 247 Mary Wroth, Urania 251 Robert Herrick, “The Hock- Cart, or Harvest Home” 253 viii Contents

Walter Blith, The En glish Improver Improved 255

PART 6. Gardens and Gardening 259 Columella, Res rustica, or On Agriculture, On Gardens 260 Piero de’ Crescenzi, Liber ruralium commodorum, or Book of Rural Commodity 263 Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, Le roman de la rose, or The Romance of the Rose 267 Nicolas Bollard, On Planting and Grafting 269 Thomas Hill, The Gardener’s Labyrinth 272 Robert Laneham, Description of the Garden at Kenilworth 275 Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene 277 Gervase Markham, The En glish Husbandman, On Grafting 282 William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale 284 William Lawson, A New Orchard and Garden and The Countrie House wife’s Garden, On Domestic Gardening 286 John Parkinson, Paradisi in Sole: Paradisus Terrestris, On Nature and Gardening 290 Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, Description of Her Garden 294 René Rapin, Hortorum Libri IV, or Of Gardens 296 Andrew Marvell, “The Mower Against Gardens” 298 Hester Pulter, “The Snail, the Tulip, and the Bee” 300 John Evelyn, Elysium Britannicum, or The Royal Gardens 302 John Worlidge, Systema Horticulturae, or The Art of Gardening in Three Books 306

PART 7. Outlandish Natu ral Worlds 311 Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia, or Natu ral History, On Arabia, Ethiopia, and the Fortunate Isles 313 John Mandev ille, Travels 315 Leo Africanus, Della descrittione dell’Africa, or Description of Africa 319 Jean de Léry, Histoire d’un voyage fait en la terre de Brésil, or History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil 321 Thomas Harriot, Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia 324 Walter Raleigh, Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana 328 Contents ix

Michael Drayton, “Ode: To the Virginian Voyage” 332 John Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum 335 Thomas Sprat, History of the Royal Society, Observations on Java 339 Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave: A True History 343

Recommended Reading and Bibliography 347

Permissions to Reprint 355

Index 357