An Oak Spring Herbaria
OSGF
“Guided by this conception and using De natura rerum as his model, Konrad set out to compile his own encyclopedia, Buch der Natur, dedicating it to ‘ein gutes Freund,’ perhaps a colleague at St. Stephen’s School in Vienna… Konrad’s purpose was to conduct the reader through a study that could be apprehended by the senses toward a more exalted contemplation of the invisible and spiritual…”
An Oak Spring Herbaria, Bunny Mellon’s last catalog of the Oak Spring Library collection, is now available to view and study online! This excerpt from the entry on Konrad von Megenberg’s (c. 1309 – 1374) Buch der Natur is one of the many resources available in the free and complete digitized version of Herbaria, now easily accessed by the public on Issuu. The Library’s three other catalogs– An Oak Spring Flora, An Oak Spring Pomona, and An Oak Spring Sylva– will be released in the near future, serving as free reference materials for any readers and scholars in need.
The passage above details the motive behind Konrad’s compilation of Buch der Natur. One of the plates from his work– and the cover of Herbaria– is an image of five small trees: apple, pear, hazel, cherry, and one unidentified tree in the center. Although Buch is not necessarily an herbal, it is still indicative of the early development of botanical sciences. The trees in this illustration remind of Oak Spring’s own orchards, which will be used in upcoming Garden-to-Table efforts in the Fall. In the summer months, the Oak Spring kitchen and garden teams are collaborating to utilize all that our Production Garden has to offer.