Text-fig. 92. “Castanum nuss” = Castanea, Chestnut [Bock, Kreuter Bůch, 1546].
Fuchs’ wood-cuts were extensively pirated, especially those on a reduced scale, which were published in his edition of 1545. As we have mentioned on p. [55], Hieronymus Bock [or Tragus] undoubtedly made use of them in the second edition of his ‘Kreuter Bůch’ (1546) which was the next important, illustrated botanical work to appear after Fuchs’ herbal. An examination of the wood-cuts in Bock’s herbal seems, however, to show that his illustrations have more claim to originality than is often supposed. The figures of Wintergreen (Text-fig. [90]), Moonwort (Text-fig. [91]), and Strawberry (Text-fig. [27]), here reproduced, are markedly different from those of Fuchs, although, in the case of the first, Fuchs’ wood-cut may have been used to some extent. The artist employed by Bock, as he himself tells us, was David Kandel, a young lad, the son of a burgher of Strasburg. His drawings are often of interest, apart from their botanical aspect. For instance, the picture of an Oak tree includes, appropriately enough, a swine-herd with his swine, the Chestnut tree gives occasion for a hedgehog (Text-fig. [92]) and, in another case, a monkey and several rabbits are introduced, one of the latter holding a shield bearing the artist’s initials. The wood-cut of Trapa, the Bull-nut (Text-fig. [29]), is a highly imaginative production which clearly shows that neither the artist nor the author had ever seen the plant in question.
Text-fig. 93. “Fungi” = Toadstools [Mattioli, Commentarii, 1560]. Reduced.
In general character, Bock’s illustrations are neater and more conventional than those of Brunfels or Fuchs. The crowns of the trees are often made practically square so as to fit the block (Text-fig. [92]). The figures in earlier works, such as the ‘Ortus Sanitatis,’ are recalled in Kandel’s disregard of the proportion between the size of the tree, and that of the leaves and fruits.
Text-fig. 94. “Rosaceum” [Mattioli, Commentarii, 1560]. Reduced.