58
HISTORY OF ESSEX BOTANY.
Morison, and Dale ; secondly, those of the eighteenth century
Blackstone, Thomas Martyn, Warner, Curtis and Robson, down
to the year 1789, in which Gough's edition of Camden's Britannia
was published, containing a list of Essex plants drawn up by the
brothers Forster ; and thirdly, the writers from that time, chiefly
Edward Forster, George Stacey Gibson, and botanists recently
deceased, or still living.
It is unnecessary for me to give a detailed biography of
William Turner, for two such have already appeared of late
years—one in Messrs. Trimen & Dyer's Flora of Middlesex,2
pp. 364-8, the other yet more complete in Mr. B. D. Jackson's
fac-simile reprint of the Libellus de re herbaria novus. 3 Turner was
born at Morpeth, in Northumberland, probably between 1510
and 1515, and was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge; was
B.A. in 1529-30, Fellow of his college in 1531, M.A. in 1533. In
1538 he published his Libellus de re herbaria novus,4 the earliest
work meriting the title of botanical issued in England. It does
not refer more than ten plants to county habitats, and these, with
the exception of one Norfolk record, are all in Northumberland
or Cambridgeshire. Having adopted the principles of the
Reformation, he travelled through a good part of England
preaching, was imprisoned, apparently for doing so "without a
call," and subsequently banished. He passed a considerable
time in Italy, studying Botany at Bologna, under Luca Ghini ;
took the degree of M.D., probably at Ferrara ; visited the great
Gesner at Zurich, and resided at Basel and Cologne. He issued
various controversial religious pamphlets, and received money
in common with other exiles, from his Cambridge friend and
master in Greek, Nicholas Ridley. He returned to England in
1547, after travelling in Holland, and in 1548 published his second
botanical work, The names of herbes in Greke, Latin, English, Duch
and Frenche, wyth the commune names that Herbaries and Apotecaries
vse, which rare and valuable little work has been admirably
reprinted for the English Dialect Society, under the editorship
of Mr. James Britten.5 It is dated from Syon, where he acted as
physician to the Protector Somerset, and contains about sixty
county records, nearly half of which are in Middlesex, chiefly
2 London (Hardwicke), 1869, 8vo., price 10s. 6d.
3 London, privately printed, 1877, 4to.
4 British Museum press-rnark 7225/2 f. 7. 4to. Mr. Jackson's reprint, London, 187
privately printed.
5 London (Trübner), 1881, 8vo., price 6s. 6d.