De herba panacea, quam alii tabacum alii petum, aut Nicotianam vocant, brevis Commentariolus

Antverpiae [Antwerp]: Antverpiae [Antwerp], 1587. First edition (a variant with 246 pages in the second part was published in the same year by the same publisher; no priority has been established). In 17th-century limp vellum. Title lettered in ink on spine. Occasional annotations and underlines by a 17th-century hand in ink. Binding restored, new endpapers and thongs. Pages restored throughout, heavily in the first third, at some places affecting the text, few leaves over trimmed. Overall in very good condition.. First edition (a variant with 246 pages in the second part was published in the same year by the same publisher; no priority has been established). In 17th-century limp vellum. Title lettered in ink on spine. Occasional annotations and underlines by a 17th-century hand in ink. 78 [=98] [4]; 234 pp. The first book devoted entirely to tobacco.


"This little work, produced by a physician who is said to have practiced with distinction in Antwerp, appears to have been the first published entirely devoted to the subject of tobacco ... a neat compendium of much of the information then available. It was, consequently, popular." (Arents)
De herba panacea concerns with the beneficial medicinal properties of tobacco, and describes most of what was then known of this New World plant including its origin, native methods of curing and cultivation, and lore surrounding tobacco. Everard gives numerous recipes, depending on tobacco, for ailments to all kinds of illnesses. The book also contains texts by Castore Durante, Gérard van Bergen, Galen, Jean de Jonghe, and Andrés de Laguna.


The book was included in the John Carter Brown Library's 1974-published Rare Americana list (A Selection of One Hundred & One Books, Maps, & Prints not in The John Carter Brown Library).
Ref.: Sabin 23218; Adams E1150; Alden 587/15; Arents 32; Books not in JCB 21.