ABSTRACT
Except for the famous copy of the Vienna Dioscorides (Vienna, ONB Cod.Med.Gr. 1), most early manuscripts of Dioskorides and Pliny are not illustrated. This is in contrast to almost all extant manuscripts of the herbarium of Apuleius Platonicus (Pseudo-Apuleius complex), which illustrate every plant in the text. Two manuscripts in Dutch collections (Leiden UL MS VLQ 13 and VLQ 40), previously unknown to modern scholars, are given a place in the traditional stemma of Apuleius manuscripts. The miniatures of VLQ 40 are unfinished; by adding VLQ 40 to the Anglo-Norman beta-group, these sketches could be coupled to the completed illustrations of London MS Harley 4986. In the thirteenth century Apuleius became old-fashioned and new texts intended for universities and the learned bourgeoisie received new, at times lifelike illustrations.
