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• 1 media/Vega_Item0200.jpg 2024-04-23T12:55:50-07:00 Histoire des plantes qui naissent aux environs de Paris, avec leur usage dans la médecine 8 plain 2024-04-30T12:42:08-07:00

  Published in 1698 by the Royal Press of France by M. Pitton Tournefort, Histoire des plantes qui naissent aux environs de Paris, avec leur usage dans la médecine details the locations of plants in the Paris area as well as their medicinal uses, this book provides insight into how people over 300 years ago engaged with the natural world around them. Although the idea of using plants in medicinal capacities might seem foreign to our modern sensibilities, medications such as aspirin, morphine, and certain chemotherapy drugs have all been derived from plants! This book can be viewed as a precursor to modern medicine and a historical snapshot of how people in the past engaged with their natural resources. 

  With its publication dated 1698, this book is over 300 years old. Compared to more recent texts, this book and its content facilitate a journey across cultures and time. Published in Paris, the entirety of the book is written in French. The language of the book lends itself to multiple ways of appreciation. For those who are knowledgeable about the French language, the content of the book itself plus the centuries-old use of language can be subjects of interest. For those who are not fluent in the French language, the woodcuts and particularities of its printing are subject to appreciation.

  In addition to the fascinating subject, the physical book has equal cause for adoration. As typical for the age and location in which this book was created, woodblock prints are featured on many pages. Woodblock prints are created by carving images into a piece of wood and then applying ink to the block itself before transferring it onto paper. Compared to other styles of decorative printing, woodblock images can be identified through a variety of different criteria, including attributes like line thickness and uniformity. The specific woodblock prints in this book are floral designs. While some pictures are images of actual flowers, others have flowers make their way into more decorative and abstract designs. In this volume, woodcuts are used to delineate the conclusion of certain sections along with signaling the importance of certain title pages. 

  One of the last reasons this book should be shared is the fact that the book itself is incredibly rare. The Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC) was a program started in 1997 that aimed to be a comprehensive search tool for existing copies of books from the first era of print. The USTC is vast with data collection occurring at over 9,000 libraries worldwide. According to the USTC, the only known copy of Histoire des Plantes is found at the National Library of France. With the SMC Rare Book Room housing the only other known copy of this text, our duty is to exhibit it to the wider public and grant them the invaluable information held inside this book.