{"product_id":"9781851244379","title":"A Shakespearean Botanical","description":"Author: Margaret Willes\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781851244379\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Bodleian Library Publishing\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 10 Dec 2015\u003cbr\u003ePages: 208\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Falstaff calls upon the sky to rain potatoes in\u003ci\u003e The Merry Wives of Windsor\u003c\/i\u003e, he is highlighting the late sixteenth-century belief that the exotic vegetable, recently introduced to England from the Americas, was an aphrodisiac. In \u003ci\u003eRomeo and Juliet\u003c\/i\u003e, Lady Capulet calls for quinces to make pies for the marriage feast of her daughter. This fruit was traditionally connected with weddings and fertility, as echoed by John Gerard in his herbal where he also explained that eating quinces would 'bring forth wise children, and of good understanding'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTaking fifty quotations centring on flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables, Margaret Willes gives these botanical references their social context to provide an intriguing and original focus on daily life in Tudor and Jacobean England, looking in particular at medicine, cookery, gardening and folklore traditions. Exquisitely illustrated with unique hand-painted engravings from the Bodleian Library's copy of John Gerard's herbal of 1597, this book marries the beauty of Shakespeare's lines with charming contemporary renderings of the plants he described so vividly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'We closed Willes's book imagining the Bard tending an allotment in Stratford-upon-Avon, with marigolds - opening 'to adorn the day' (\u003ci\u003eThe Rape of Lucrece\u003c\/i\u003e), closing 'with the sun' (\u003ci\u003eThe Winter's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e) - nodding violets, and thoughtful pansies.\u0026amp;nbsp;\u003ci\u003eA Shakespearean Botanical\u003c\/i\u003e\u0026amp;nbsp;would make a better Christmas gift...than deadly nightshade.' -\u0026amp;nbsp;\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46857118810270,"sku":"ADS-9781851244379","price":27.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781851244379.jpg?v=1779155064","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781851244379","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}