Neues Kräuterbuch - Leonhart Fuchs

Botanical Knowledge in the Service of Medicine

Leonhart Fuchs was not only a botanist, but above all a physician and university professor. For him, the reliable identification of medicinal plants was one of the foundations of responsible medical practice. Yet many physicians of his time were scarcely familiar with the plants they prescribed from direct observation. With his herbal, Fuchs sought to reunite ancient medical knowledge with the close study of nature.

The German edition of 1543 followed one year after the Latin work De historia stirpium. By presenting his findings in the vernacular, Fuchs made them accessible to a much wider readership. The New Herbal thus became a practical compendium for physicians, apothecaries, and students of plants.

A Comprehensive Record of the Plant World

Each chapter devoted to a plant follows a clearly ordered structure. Fuchs gives its German, Greek, and Latin names, describes its form and distinguishing features, explains its habitat and flowering season, and summarizes its medicinal properties and uses. In this way, the work combines precise botanical description with practical medical knowledge.

Three indexes make the book particularly easy to consult: one lists the German plant names, another the Greek and Latin terms, while a third records illnesses and ailments. Readers could therefore begin either with a particular plant or with a medical condition. This careful organization made the book an exceptionally versatile reference work.

Images as a Source of Knowledge

The enduring fame of the work rests above all on its 517 woodcuts of plants. The specimens are generally shown individually and in their entirety—from roots, stems, and leaves to flowers, seeds, and fruits. Unlike many earlier herbals, Fuchs did not simply repeat inherited pictorial conventions. The plants were intended to be clearly identifiable through their visible characteristics.

The impressive illustrations were created through the close observation and careful study of real plants in nature. Albrecht Meyer prepared the drawings, Heinrich Füllmaurer transferred them to the woodblocks, and Veit Rudolf Speckle carved the designs. Fuchs even honored the three artists with individual portraits—an unusual acknowledgement of their achievement.

Scientific Precision and the Art of the Book

The woodcuts largely dispense with narrative backgrounds and direct the viewer’s full attention to the plant itself. This clarity gives them scientific value without diminishing their aesthetic appeal. Gracefully curving stems, differentiated leaf forms, and meticulously rendered blossoms make each image a masterpiece of botanical book illustration.

The generous folio format allows the plant images to unfold to full effect. Text and illustration are carefully coordinated, enabling the written description to be compared directly with the plant’s appearance. This union of knowledge and artistic perfection established a new standard for later botanical publications.

A Milestone in the History of Botany

In his interpretation of medicinal effects, Fuchs remained indebted to the great authorities of antiquity, particularly Dioscorides and Galen. At the same time, his method initiated an important change: knowledge was no longer to be derived from tradition alone, but also from the careful observation and comparison of nature. The work therefore stands at the threshold of modern botany.

The illustrations were copied and adapted in other herbals for decades. Their clarity and accuracy shaped the representation of numerous plants far beyond the sixteenth century. The copy bearing the shelf mark Lo I 6 at the University Library of Basel thus preserves not only one of the most beautiful botanical books of the Renaissance, but also a work that permanently transformed the scientific study of nature.