Harley MS 3736, ff 1r-80r

Giovanni Cadamosto's illustrated herbal. Cadamosto, presented in 1471 his original text to Borso d’Este, marquis of Ferrara (1450-1471), now Paris, BnF, MS it. 1108 (see Le muse e ii principe, Arte di corte nel Rinascimento padano, II, 1991, no. 54, pp. 209-10).

Decoration:

Coloured pen drawings of plants are arranged in alphabetical order by their Italian names with German and Latin names often added beneath. 16 drawings include people, landscapes, and/or architectural elements: ff. 9r (a head of a bull), 10r (a ruined gate to a castle), 18v (a rock), 20r (Emperor Charlemagne kneeling in front of a plant pierced by an arrow. The plant is called 'Carlina' and the caption explains that an angel advised Charlemagne to eat it in order to be purged of poison), 20v (a fragment of a ruined house), 26r (a hill), 30v (a rocky hill), 35v (a well), 36v (a hill), 40r (a river?), 50v (a man with a crossbow), 58v-59r (a man harvesting a mandrake with a help of a dog), 68r (a pond), 76r (a man gathering truffles), 78r (a pond); 9 include plant roots shaped like human figures or fabulous creatures (ff. 9, 12, 22v (a pig referring to the plant's name 'Cauda porcina'), 33r (a dragon referring to the plant's name 'Dragontea'), 38v, 47v, 53v, 58r (three heads), 73r).