PARKINSON (John). Of this ingenious English botanist, one of the first and most industrious cultivators of that science among us, the memorials that remain are very scanty. He was born in 1567, was bred an apothecary, and resided in London. He rose to such reputation in his profession as to be appointed apothecary to King James I.; and, on the publication of his Theatre of Plants, he obtained from the unfortunate successor of that prince the title of Botanicus Regis primarius. The time of his death cannot be exactly ascertained; but, as his Herbal was published in 1640, and it appears that he was living at that time, he must have attained his 73d year.
Parkinson's first publication was, his 1. Paradisi in Sole Paradisus terrestris, or, A Garden of all Sorts of
Pleasant Flowers which our English Ayre will permit to be nursed up: with a Kitchen-garden of all manner of Herbes, Roots, and Fruits, for Meat or Saufe, &c. &c. Collected by John Parkinson apothecary, of London, 1629, folio, 612 pages. In this work the plants are arranged without any exact order: nearly 1000 plants are separately described, of which 780 are figured on 129 tables, which appear to have been cut expressly for this work. Parkinson was, it is conceived, the first English author who separately described and figured the subjects of the flower garden; and this book is therefore a valuable curiosity, as exhibiting a complete view of the extent of the English garden at the beginning of the last century. It may, perhaps, be necessary to inform the reader, that Paradisi in Sole, is meant to express the author's name, Parkinson. In 1640 he published his Theatrum Botanicum; or Theatre of Plants, or an Herbal of a large extent: containing therein, a more ample and exact History and declaration of the Physical Herbs and Plants than are in other Authors, &c. &c. London, folio, 1746 pages. This work had been the labour of the author's life; and he tells us that, owing to "the disastrous times," and other impediments, the printing of it was long retarded. Dr. Pulteney is of opinion, that, allowing for the defects common to the age, Parkinson will appear "more of an original author than Gerard or Johnson, independent of the advantages he might derive from being posterior to them. His theatre was carried on through a long series of years, and he profited by the works of some late authors, which Johnson, though they were equally in his power, had neglected to use. Parkinson's descriptions, in many instances, appear to be new. He is more particular in pointing out the places of growth. Johnson had described about 2850 plants, Parkinson has near 3800. These accumulations rendered the Theatrum Botanicum the most copious book on the subject in the English language; and it may be presumed, that it gained equally the approbation of medical people, and of all those who were curious and inquisitive in this kind of knowledge."