John Gerard

Who was John Gerard?

John Gerard, also spelt John Gerarde, was a botanist and herbalist. He maintained a large herbal garden in London. His chief notability is as the author of a big – 1480 pages – and heavily illustrated Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes. First published in 1597, it was the most widely circulated botany book in English in the 17th century. Except for the additions of a number of plants from his own garden and from North America, Gerard's Herbal is largely an English translation of Rembert Dodoens Herbal of 1554, itself also highly popular. Gerard's Herball is profusely illustrated with high-quality drawings of plants, with the printer's woodcuts for the drawings largely coming from Dodoens' book and from other Continental European sources. A couple of decades after Gerard's death, his Herbal was corrected and expanded, which strengthened the book's position in the 17th century.

The botanical genus Gerardia is named in his honour.