Theatre or Theatre of Plants) which he published in 1640 at the age of 73 years. The release of this work was delayed due to the popularity of Thomas Johnson's edition of John Gerard's book The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes (1597). Theatrum Botanicum, with 1,688 pages of text, describes over 3,800 plants and was the most complete and beautifully presented English treatise on plants of its day. It was the first work to describe 33 native plants, 13 of which grew near Parkinson's Middlesex home. Some of these plants, such as the Welsh poppy, the Strawberry Tree and the Lady's Slipper, were very common but had gone unnoticed or at least unrecorded. He intended the book to be a reliable guide for apothecaries, and it remained so for more than a hundred years after his death. Parkinson presented the work to Charles I, who conferred on him the title "Botanicus Regis Primarius" ("Royal Botanist of the First Rank") though this came without a salary. Published works Folio. In some copies the title page is woodcut; in others it is printed (dated 1635). Later editions and reprints Folio. Facsimile of the 1629 edition without the letterpress title page, made from copies in the Bodleian Library. Facsimile of the 1629 edition. Folio. Reprints: Notes References Gallery Further reading Some works listed in this section were obtained from External links 1567 births 1650 deaths 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 16th-century Roman Catholics 17th-century English botanists 17th-century English male writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century Roman Catholics English male writers English Roman Catholics Herbalists Historians of science