ABSTRACT
Doctorsanddictionariesinsixteenth-centuryEngland273
olde, auncyent, and autentyke auctours, or doctours of Phisicke in their hokes doth wryte many obscure terms, geuinge also many and dyuerse infyrmities, darke termes, dyffycyle to vnderstande, some and mooste of all beyng Greeke wordes, some and fewe beynge Araby wordes, some beyng Latyn wordes, and some beyng Barbarus wordes. Therfore I haue translated all soche obscure wordes and names into Englyshe, that euery man openlye and apartly maye vnderstande them. (Avl)
I hope to see the tyme, whan the nature of Simples, (whych haue ben hytherto incrediblie corrupted) shal be redde in Englysshe as in other languages, that is to saye [th]e perfecte declaration of the qualities of herbes, seedes, rootes, trees, and of all commodities that are here amongest vs, shal be earnestely and trulye declared, in oure owne natyue speche ... To the whyche I trust allemed men (hauyng a zele to the co[m]mon wealth) wyll apply theyr diligent industries (Aiiiif).
