The third of the trio of botanists whom we are now considering is Mathias de l'Obel [de Lobel or Lobelius], who was born in Flanders in 1538, and died in England, at Highgate, in 1616 (Plate VIII). He studied at Montpelier, under Guillaume Rondelet, who, finally, bequeathed to him his botanical manuscripts. Here also he became acquainted with a young Provençal, Pierre Pena, with whom he afterwards collaborated in botanical work. De l'Obel took up medicine as his profession, and eventually became physician to William the Silent, a post which he held until the assassination of the Stadtholder. Later on, he and Pena came to England, probably to seek a peaceful life under the prosperous sway of Queen Elizabeth, which was so favourable to the arts and sciences. Their principal work was dedicated to her, in terms of hyperbolic praise. De l'Obel seems to have been well received in this country, for he was invited to superintend the medicinal garden at Hackney, belonging to Lord Zouche, and he eventually obtained the title of Botanist to James I.
[Engraving by François Dellarame, 1615. Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum.]]
De l'Obel's chief botanical work was the 'Stirpium adversaria nova[14],' published in 1570, with Pena as joint author. Pena does not appear to have been a botanist of much importance, and he eventually quite forsook the subject in favour of medicine. It has been suggested, however, that de l'Obel was inclined to minimise the value of his colleague's work. The system of classification, upon which de l'Obel's reputation really rests, is set forth in this book. The main feature of his scheme is that he distinguishes different groups by the peculiarities of their leaves. He is thus led to make a rough separation between the classes which we now call Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons. The details of his system will be considered in a later chapter.
In 1576 the work was enlarged, and republished as the 'Plantarum seu Stirpium Historia'; it was also translated into Flemish, and appeared under the title of 'Kruydtboeck' in 1581, dedicated to William of Orange, and the Burgomasters and other functionaries of Antwerp. The blocks (see Text-fig. 67) used to illustrate this work were taken from previous books, especially those of de l'Écluse. Immediately after the publication of the Kruydtboeck, Plantin brought out an album of the engravings it had contained, which, although they had been also used to illustrate the herbals of Dodoens and de l'Écluse, were now grouped according to de l'Obel's arrangement, which was recognised as the best.