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The Ex-Classics Web Site Book of the Month -- July 2025 Gerard's Herbal The Herbal, or General History of Plants was first published in 1597, and in a new edition revised and expanded by Thomas Johnson, in 1633. The revised version is a magnificent work; over 1600 folio pages illustrated with nearly 2,000 woodcuts. Described by Edmund Gosse as "the noblest of all the English Herbals," it covers virtually every plant known to western botany at the time. Each is described and illustrated, with notes on the places where it maybe found, when it flowers, its names in various languages, and its medicinal uses. Interspersed with these, are various charming anecdotes and quotations from ancient and modern authors. The illustrations are extremely accurate and modern botanists can easily identify the plant from them. The medicinal uses are detailed and very numerous; so much so that one wonders how in those days anyone was ever ill at all. There are even cures for diseases with no modern treatment, such as "pestilential botch", "unprofitable blood",and "hardening of the matrix.".  Previous BOMs AboutUs The Ex-Classics project was founded in 2000 to fill an unmet need.  When reading the blurb etc. to a book by Charles Dickens or Charlotte Bronte, say, we would often come across sentences like "Favourite reading included . . ."  If  it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us. So off we go to the library or bookshop, to be met first with blank stares and then with the information that the book has been out of print for decades. Our first two books were Gil Blas and Hudibras, which are prime examples of this. This web site is dedicated to rescuing these works from obscurity and making them available online, both for reading directly, and for downloading. What do you think? Any comments about this site or its contents? E-mail us (Click here) We have an occasional newsletter - please say if you want to be added to the mailing list. We never give out your details to spammers, or anyone else, for that matter. No-Copyright notice This site and its contents are public domain and free to the world. Anything in it may be copied and distributed free of charge or obligation. [There are one or two exceptions to this,which are clearly marked where they occur.] We expect this policy to be passed on - anyone who copies our texts or web pages and tries to claim copyright for themselves is stealing - not from us, but from you, and from everyone. An example of what we mean.

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