The first original scientific herbal written by an Englishman, and the first scientific herbal published in the English language. The illustrations were taken from the blocks cut for the 8vo edition of Fuchs (1546). Turner was a strongly unorthodox thinker whose stubborn Protestant convictions forced him into exile on the Continent during the Catholic reaction at the end of the reign of Henry VIII, and again during the reign of Mary. He had a varied and turbulent career as naturalist, theologian and physician. Parts 2 and 3 were produced in English in Cologne, 1562 and 1568, while Turner was an exile in Germany. Part 3 was issued only with a reprint of Parts 1 and 2.