Take two nightshades. Call me in the morning
Rare medicinal herb book found in public library
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

A copy of John Gerard's "Herball or General History of Plantes" was rediscovered recently in the Grimstead room of the Metuchen public library.

Looking for a remedy for those nasty pestilential apostems? Something to draw out the venom from a poisoned arrowhead?

Suggestions for what to do about swellings from the black plague, or even a simple headache can be found in a book you can't get on Amazon.com or buy at Barnes & Noble.

The book, "Herball, or General History of Plantes," was penned by John Gerard in 1597. But a rare, 1633 second edition was recently discovered at the Metuchen library. The find was a thrill for the Friends of the Metuchen Public Library.

"It's the most exciting thing that has happened to the Friends in a long time," said Bern Bransfield, vice president of the group.

The 1,625-page book, a little bigger than a three-ring binder, was the most important "consumer health" book in Shakespeare's England, said Susan Reeds, an antiquarian book expert. She is a science and medicine historian, freelance museum consultant and exhibit curator. She is a former science and medical editor for Rutgers University Press.

"You don't find these very often," she said. "You certainly don't find them lying around in your library. It's the major scientific and medical work of Elizabethan England. It was like having your favorite cookbook, family medical encyclopedia and favorite gardening book all rolled into one. It was pretty popular."

The book was locked up in the small Grimstead room of the library for years. When library personnel started to run out of space, they decided to limit the room to books about Metuchen history and began a purge. The book ended up in a cart in library director Melody Kokola's office.

"It sat in her office for quite a while, until somebody saw it and said, 'That's a valuable book,' " Bransfield said.

The book features 2,800 woodcuts of medicinal plants and is written in Elizabethan English.

"You just know that the author and Shakespeare were speaking the same language," Reeds said. "I can't swear that Shakespeare read Gerard's 'Herball,' but I would be willing to bet he knew somebody who knew somebody who knew Gerard."

The book's paper is made out of linen rags, a common practice of the time, Reeds said.

"Linen was used for underclothes," she said. "When they got too ragged, the rags were sold to paper makers. They would rip them up and soak them, then recycle them into paper. It looks like really beautiful paper."

If the book were in perfect shape, it would be worth over $10,000, since only roughly 500 copies were printed, she said.

"Since the spine is broken, it's somewhere between $2,500 on up," Reeds said. "The bookplate makes it particularly interesting. Whatever the library gets for it, they will be ahead."

Library officials are planning to sell the book, Bransfield said.

"There's no reason for us to keep it," she said. "We'll purchase a copy of a printing and leave that in the library. It's just too valuable for us. You have to use white gloves. It's ancient. It's not for everybody."

Library officials think the book was donated by a Metuchen resident named Gertrude Rohdenburg back in the first half of the 20th century. Rohdenburg, a member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, was born deaf.

"Her father was a physician and made sure she got the best possible treatment and education," Reeds said. "She loved books and apparently loved to travel."

There are about 150 copies of the book in libraries around the world. There are two copies in New Jersey, one at Princeton University and the other at Rutgers University, Reeds said.

But until the library finds a buyer, Bransfield's keeping mum about where the book is stored.

"It's locked up in a secret place," she said. "I'm not telling anybody."