Title
Il Bomprovifaccia, per Sani, & Amalati.
Reference Number
QK 99.A1C65
Creator
Date
1621
Format
Publisher
Description
The first studies of plants were herbals that described the medicinal value of flora. Plants were carefully described and illustrated so medical practitioners could prepare the correct healing substance. Often the plants were assigned human attributes. In medieval times the mandragora, or mandrake, plant was thought to be in the power of dark earth spirits and have magical powers. The human shape of its root was likely responsible for the superstition that it shrieked when it was uprooted and that its scream brought death or insanity to those who heard it. It could only be safely uprooted in the moonlight, after appropriate prayer and ritual, by a black dog attached to the plant by a cord. It could then be used for beneficent purposes, such as healing, inducing love, facilitating pregnancy, and providing soothing sleep.
Extent (Pages, Duration, Dimensions)
367 pages
Is Part Of
Rare Book Collection, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library
Page Location
116