Bartholomaeus
Anglicus lived until about the middle of the 13th
Century. Following study at Oxford, he joined the
Franciscan Order in France. His work, Liber de
proprietatibus rerum, was held as a manuscript for
two centuries before being printed in 1472. This was
over 2000 years after he had composed it. The book was
in reality an encyclopedia consisting of an account of
trees and herbs, arranged in alphabetical order and
chiefly concerned with their medicinal values. It
contains theoretical considerations about plants along
medical lines.
An English translation was made in 1398 by John
Trevisa and was entitled Properties of All
Thynges. Trevisa's translation became the chief
source from which Shakespeare and other writers of his
time obtained their information about natural history.
Twenty-five editions appeared before the end of the
15th Century and forty three printed editions have
been identified.
Students in the University as well as the common
people read Liber de proprietatibus rerum early
and the author had wide influence upon the world in
which he lived. The discussion included geography,
psychology, anatomy, physiology, disease and plant and
animal subjects.
