Items related to A Shakespearean Botanical
When Falstaff calls upon the sky to rain potatoes in The Merry Wives of Windsor, he highlights the belief that the exotic vegetable, recently introduced to England from the Americas, was an aphrodisiac. In Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet calls for quinces to make pies for the marriage feast, knowing that the fragrant fruit was connected with weddings and fertility. Shakespeare’s contemporaries would have been familiar with such ripe symbolism in part due to herbals, tomes filled with detailed botanical descriptions consulted to deepen knowledge of the plants of the day.
A Shakespearean Botanical follows in the tradition of the medieval and Renaissance herbal, touring the Bard’s remarkable knowledge of the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers of Tudor and Jacobean England through fifty quotations from his plays and verse poems. Each of the entries is beautifully illustrated with hand-colored renderings from the work of Shakespeare’s contemporary, herbalist John Gerard, making an appropriate pairing with his writing, along with a brief text setting the quotation within the context of the medicine, cooking, and gardening of the time.
The book’s many beautifully reproduced images are a pleasure to look at, and Margaret Willes’s well-chosen quotations and expert knowledge of Shakespeare’s England provide readers with a fascinating insight into daily life. The book will make an inspiring addition to the Shakespeare lover’s bookshelf, as well as capitvate anyone with a passion for plants or botanical art.
A Shakespearean Botanical follows in the tradition of the medieval and Renaissance herbal, touring the Bard’s remarkable knowledge of the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers of Tudor and Jacobean England through fifty quotations from his plays and verse poems. Each of the entries is beautifully illustrated with hand-colored renderings from the work of Shakespeare’s contemporary, herbalist John Gerard, making an appropriate pairing with his writing, along with a brief text setting the quotation within the context of the medicine, cooking, and gardening of the time.
The book’s many beautifully reproduced images are a pleasure to look at, and Margaret Willes’s well-chosen quotations and expert knowledge of Shakespeare’s England provide readers with a fascinating insight into daily life. The book will make an inspiring addition to the Shakespeare lover’s bookshelf, as well as capitvate anyone with a passion for plants or botanical art.
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About the Author:
Margaret Willes is the author of several books, including The Making of the English Gardener and Pick of the Bunch: The Story of Twelve Treasured Flowers, the latter also published by the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
Review:
“We closed Willes’s book imagining the Bard tending an allotment in Stratford-upon-Avon, with marigolds—opening ‘to adorn the day’ (The Rape of Lucrece), closing ‘with the sun’ (The Winter’s Tale)—nodding violets, and thoughtful pansies. A Shakespearean Botanical would make a better Christmas gift . . . than deadly nightshade.” (Times Literary Supplement 2015-11-10)
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherBodleian Library, University of Oxford
- Publication date2015
- ISBN 10 1851244379
- ISBN 13 9781851244379
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages128
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. When Falstaff calls upon the sky to rain potatoes in The Merry Wives of Windsor, he is highlighting the late sixteenth-century belief that the exotic vegetable, recently introduced to England from the Americas, was an aphrodisiac. In Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet calls for quinces to make pies for the marriage feast of her daughter. This fruit was traditionally connected with weddings and fertility, as echoed by John Gerard in his herbal where he also explained that eating quinces would 'bring forth wise children, and of good understanding'.Taking fifty quotations centring on flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables, Margaret Willes gives these botanical references their social context to provide an intriguing and original focus on daily life in Tudor and Jacobean England, looking in particular at medicine, cookery, gardening and folklore traditions. Exquisitely illustrated with unique hand-painted engravings from the Bodleian Library's copy of John Gerard's herbal of 1597, this book marries the beauty of Shakespeare's lines with charming contemporary renderings of the plants he described so vividly.'We closed Willes's book imagining the Bard tending an allotment in Stratford-upon-Avon, with marigolds - opening 'to adorn the day' (The Rape of Lucrece), closing 'with the sun' (The Winter's Tale) - nodding violets, and thoughtful pansies. A Shakespearean Botanical would make a better Christmas gift.than deadly nightshade.' - Times Literary Supplement Taking fifty quotations centring on flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables, this book marries the beauty of Shakespeare's lines with charming contemporary renderings of the plants he described so vividly. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781851244379
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Book Description Condition: New. Taking fifty quotations centring on flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables, this book marries the beauty of Shakespeare's lines with charming contemporary renderings of the plants he described so vividly. Num Pages: 208 pages, 60 colour illustrations. BIC Classification: WZG. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 128 x 192 x 22. Weight in Grams: 394. . 2015. Hardcover. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9781851244379
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