John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - apples woodcut, p.1274, detail.
Apples, at the end of a meal are mentioned in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Gerarde’s herbal includes all kinds of fruit and trees as well as flowers and vegetables, many of which ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - Clove gilloflowers, p.472.
Carnations are the source for a Shakespearian argument in The Winter’s Tale.
Gerarde described carnations [pinks] with their ancient name ‘clove gillivors’ and Shakespeare’s ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - daffodils, p.108
b>Autolycus sings of daffodils in The Winter’s Tale
Autolycus, the former courtier turned pedlar, first arrives on the scene singing of the joys of spring: ‘When daffodils begin to peer... ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - gilloflowers (Wall Flowers), p.370.
The names of plants, discussed by Shakespeare.
The detail with which Gerarde describes plants, vegetables and fruit as well as flowers assisted contemporary herbalists and housewives with their gardens. ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - Goosetree [barnacles], detail, p.1391, detail.
Truth and Myth in Shakespeare's books of reference: The Barnacle Goose Tree.
Shakespeare includes, in The Winter's Tale (4.4), a similar myth to Gerarde’s tale of a barnacle-goose tree in the ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - Goosetree [Barnakle tree], p.1391.
The Elizabethan myth of the goose-tree.
Myth and legend, passed on by word of mouth until it was written down and becomes almost a fact, included the story that Gerarde records at the end of his herbal, ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - Goosetree described by Gerarde, p.1392.
Locations of plants known to Shakespeare's contemporaries.
Herbals and gardening books in Elizabethan England often describe the locations in which a plant may be found in the wild, as well as where ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - hand drawn detail added to title page.
Garden detail replaced in an amateur way by an owner of a volume contemporary with Shakespeare.
This copy of the first edition of Gerade’s Herball has original hand-colouring of all the illustrations ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - holly, p. 1155,detail.
Holly and its uses in Shakespeare's time.
There were twenty-seven holy days, or ‘holidays’ spread through the Elizabethan year, but the twelve days of Christmas, at the time of the winter ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - narcissus, p.108.
Flowers for enjoyment in Shakespeare's England.
The Elizabethans loved colour of all kinds in their embroidered and decorated clothes. The often elaborate painted wall-hangings of their homes frequently ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - portrait, on back of title-page, p.B6v.
John Gerarde, herbalist: a contemporary of Shakespeare.
The large linen ruff was a fashion imported from the Netherlands, but adopted by all who could afford the starches needed to create such an accessory. ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - roses, p.1079.
Roses feature more than once in Shakespeare’s plays.
Gerarde's Herbal gave Elizabethans the chance to see the plants that Shakespeare had in mind as he wrote certain scenes in his plays. In the ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - title-page
An owner of a volume contemporary with Shakespeare has replaced a missing title-page.
The decorative title-pages of books have occasionally been damaged, or removed by their owners. This copy of ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - violets, p.699, detail.
A Shakespearian plant reference.
The plant and flower references in Shakespeare’s works are numerous. John Gerarde’s Herball lists and describes all the plants known in contemporary England, ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - Wall Flowers, p.371.
Wallflowers in a Shakespeare source.
Wallflowers in John Gerarde’s History of plantes are clearly illustrated and named ‘gilloflower’. This popular name persists as ‘gillys’ ...
John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597]
London Bridge, looking upstream in Shakespeare's time.
London's medieval bridge was thronged with passers-by entering the city. At the south end (left on this contemporary engraving) lay the gate above ...
John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597] - detail - note the water-wheel under the bridge.
The northern bank of the Thames at London in Shakespeare's time.
The water-tower at the northern end of London Bridge raised river water to distribute it into the city.
Full title: John Norden, ...
John Norden, The View of London Bridge from east to west, [1597] - detail of bridge and houses above
A coach enters Shakespeare's London.
The centre of London Bridge had one short section where the houses did not loom five or six storeys high above the roadway. Norden shows a coach and a stream of ...