Medieval and Early Modern Greek Manuscripts : Dioscorides Pedanius, De materia medica

Medieval and Early Modern Greek Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This manuscript, probably completed in 1642, is a copy of the principal work of the 1st century CE medical writer <i>Dioscorides Pedanius, <i>De materia medica</i></i>, with a facing translation in English. The text is an encyclopaedia of medicinal plants and their uses, which became the most used work of its kind and dominated the study of botany and pharmacology in the Greek, Latin and Arabic traditions until the 16th century. An English translation of this text was completed by John Goodyer (1592-1664) in 1655, but the rendering of the text into English here is very different. The manuscript also contains a number of poems in English at its beginning and end.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Dr Christopher Wright</p>