Dedicatory Letter :

[...ity], they contributed some pounds of stamped silver of their own accord to this completed work. O, he is a man to be celebrated by many a pen, both for his piety and the kindness with which he overflows, and also for his distinguished learning and knowledge of the medical faculty The body of knowledge and professional practice associated with medicine., in which he so excels that many men flock to him from distant regions in the hope of recovering and protecting their health—so much so that he was even called by the Emperor Ferdinand to treat him. There were also others who brought great aid to these our endeavors, and not only to these most recent ones but to others published before, of whom some were of great use to me by sending plants, others by their advice, and others by the communication of their discoveries. Among these, I would not find it a burden to commemorate in this place—if only I could return some favor to them by the mention of the benefit received—Luca Ghini of Imola, a physician of singular genius and learning, who at Pisa has taught Materia Medica original: "Medicā materiam." The study of the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing, primarily plants. for many years now with great praise from all. There is also the most learned Ulisse Aldrovandi of Bologna, of a most honorable family, of proven learning, and of great expectation as both a philosopher and a physician. Commemoration of the excellent men who aided this work. Luca Ghini. Ulisse Aldrovandi. To these men I understand myself to be all the more indebted because, out of their own kindness and generosity alone, they have always pursued me with love and duty, though they have never known nor seen me. There were also those joined to us by friendship and kinship, by whose zeal and diligence I was permitted at this time (though I could not travel myself) to obtain many plants from diverse places and to publish their illustrations; but especially in this matter, Giovanni Odorico Melchiori has performed tireless work for us. Giovanni Odorico Melchiori. Giovanni Odorico Melchiori of Trento is a physician of respected erudition who has always held me in the place of a father, and who, on account of his outstanding learning, was honorably taken as a physician by the Most Serene Empress Maria, wife of Emperor Maximilian, for her own benefit and that of her court. Truly, he saw to it that many uncommon plants were brought to us both from Padua and Venice. Furthermore, there is a man of the highest integrity and uprightness of life, Francesco Partini. Francesco Partini of Rovereto, for whose distinguished learning and singular experience in medical matters there is such a high opinion among many princes of this age that some of them—especially the Cardinals of Trento and Augsburg, whose physician he was for several years—have considered it a great honor to have decorated such a man with the most ample offices and various distinctions. Because of this, it has later come to pass that he has now been deservedly elevated to be the physician of the Most Invincible and Powerful Roman Emperor, Maximilian II. Bernardino Trevisano. Girolamo Donzellino. There is also Girolamo Donzellino of Brescia, a most famous physician in both languages original: "utraque lingua." Referring to his proficiency in both Latin and Greek., and in the highest learning and judgment, who indeed, by helping these labors of ours in very many ways, has been a great honor to us. Furthermore, the most distinguished man Ogier de Busbecq, a Fleming, contributed a great deal of help to these our most recent efforts; he served as the Ambassador for the Emperor Ferdinand to the Emperor of the Turks at Constantinople. Indeed, he not only sent me many foreign and rare plants, but also brought with him very ancient copies of Dioscorides Busbecq famously recovered the "Vienna Dioscorides," a 6th-century illustrated manuscript, which Mattioli used to correct his own work. solely for my sake. With their help, much splendor has been added to the entire work, as we shall say more extensively in the following preface to the reader. Moreover, the most distinguished and learned Giacomo Antonio Cortuso. Giacomo Antonio Cortuso, a Paduan patrician, provided the greatest assistance and performed diligent work over many years; from him (such was his generosity and beneficence) many kinds of plants were sent to me, and those rare, foreign, and known to very few. He was followed by the most learned physician Bernardino Trevisano, who teaches Materia Medica at the Academy of Padua with great praise. For he aided us not a little, both by sending plants and by his advice. And no less must I celebrate that best of men and most keen investigator of plant life, Francesco Calceolari. Cecchino Martinelli. Francesco Calceolari, a pharmacist of Verona; and also Cecchino Martinelli of Ravenna, because the latter from Damascus in Syria, and the former from Verona, sent not a few rare plants to me, which had never been seen by me before, just as they had not been seen by anyone who...