Image Courtesy: Science-History Institute – Museum and Library, public domain Hi-res image: https://digital.sciencehistory.org/downloads/orig/image/r207tq26g
In addition to Dodoens Cruydboeck (Kruidboek), the Great Herball by John Gerard – first published in 1597 – was the most widely read herbal book in early 17th-century New Netherland and New England households and the crucial reference book used by physicians from New Amsterdam to Boston. A compilation of images and text taken directly from the earlier herbals by the Flemish-Dutch botanist-physicians Rembert Dodoens and Mathias de Lobel (l'Obel), this botanical-medical work had many detailed woodcuts with clearly recognizable plant images. In addition to describing the healing properties of plants, it warns readers about poisonous plants that might be growing in their early 17th-century gardens, like hemlock or fox glove.
Herbals were particularly prized books in the 17th century.