The Plant-Lore & Garden-Craft of Shakespeare

by Henry Nicholson Ellacombe

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

303 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Henry Nicholson Ellacombe (1822–1916) was a British plantsman and author on botany and gardening.

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

How unusual to shelve a book as both literary and a nature guide. This thoroughly researched and charmingly illustrated book lists all the plants appearing in Shakespeare's works, in alphabetical order. We see the lines in which they appear and the contexts are explained. Do the lines refer to a feast, a potion-shop, a forest, a garden, a beauty?

Aconite is a poison, apple edible fruit, aloes bitter; they all have a place. I like that trees are listed with what the timber was used for at the time, including aspen, not used for much but we learn, one of the earliest trees of Britain and used to make arrows, while related to women or the Crucifixion because of the trembling leaves. Apple was a term for a fruit, also seen in pine-apple and love-apple, so pomme from which we get pomade would have been an earlier word for this tree. Different kinds of apples and crabapples had their own names, like pippin. The name of apricot is a long trail also, from Eastern realms. All this and I'm still on A.

Botanists, herbalists, and literary lovers will relish the pages. I love the illustrations of what Will's own cottage garden looked like, full of plants. We're told that Chaucer was the only other to have really listed many English plants and uses, because other poets such as Milton referred to classical influences which involved more Mediterranean plants. Shakespeare did name Mediterranean plants of course, such as bay, and anything which was found and used at the time, like saffron, mace and dates from The Winter's Tale. The last plant is Yew, poisonous, planted in churchyards (to safeguard cattle, not mentioned) and supplier of bows. The brief latter part of the book looks at Elizabethan gardens.

This venerable book has small text and black and white line drawings both of plants and of locations linked to Shakespeare. I think readers could dip in and enjoy this one for years.

I downloaded a copy from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

[Dawn Lofink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published originally in 1887. It explores the anecdotes of flowers and botanicals mentioned in Shakespeare's work, from A-Z. The author also adds material from other pertinent sources. Overall an passingly interesting work, more for it's exploration of the work of The Bard, than its botanical heritage.

[Polly Krize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A delightful book in which the author has tracked down all of Shakespeare's references to plants and flowers in his plays. Full of rich detail, this makes interesting reading for gardener and Shakespeare enthusiasts alike.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jam packed with info on plant lore! I love to read Shakespeare, so this book is a nice addendum to his works. Both gardeners and play lovers should find this book interesting.

[allmeandonlyme · Rating 5 out of 5]

💞💋

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WAS A HOOT AS WELL AS A WEALTH OF INFO ON SHAKESPEAREAN PLANTS AND LORE. AS A FORMER ENGLISH LIT TEACHER, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE RESEARCH AND EFFORT THAT WENT INTO THIS.

[kathyrn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to netgalley and Dover Publications for the ARC of a beautiful new edition of an old classic.
CHAPTER 1
THE PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE

Here's flowers for you. — Winter's Tale, iv. 4.

Away before me to sweet beds of flowers. — Twelfth Night, i. 1.


* * *

Aconitum.

The united vessel of their blood,
Mingled with venom of suggestion —
As, force perforce, the age will pour it in —
Shall never leak, though it do work as strong
As Aconitum or rash gunpowder.

2nd King Henry IV, iv. 4, 44.


There is another place in which it is probable that Shakespeare alludes to the Aconite; he does not name it, but he compares the effects of the poison to gunpowder, as in the passage above.