MEDIAEVAL MEDICINE

MEDIAEVAL GEOGRAPHY

MEDIAEVAL NATURAL HISTORY--TREES

MEDIAEVAL NATURAL HISTORY--BIRDS AND FISHES

MEDIAEVAL NATURAL HISTORY--ANIMALS

THE SOURCES OF THE BOOK

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GLOSSARY




INTRODUCTION


THE BOOK AND ITS OBJECT.--The book which we offer to the public of to-
day is drawn from one of the most widely read books of mediaeval
times. Written by an English Franciscan, Bartholomew, in the middle of
the thirteenth century, probably before 1260, it speedily travelled
over Europe. It was translated into French by order of Charles V.
(1364-81) in 1372, into Spanish, into Dutch, and into English in 1397.
Its popularity, almost unexampled, is explained by the scope of the
work, as stated in the translator's prologue (p. 9). It was written to