During the hand-press era, there were usually several different people doing the job of putting a book together; this task was sometimes even completed at different locations.  Printers would try to guard against errors (such as binding the pages in the incorrect order) by printing catchwords at the bottom right-hand corner of each page.  This practice was seen in all editions of the Herball; with each book being so large, it would have been key to avoid errors such as binding the pages out of order.  An example is shown below.  Note how the catchword from the page on “the Stonie wood, or woode made of Stones” correspond to the first words on the next page on “the Goose tree, or Barnacle tree, or the tree bearing Geese.” (see this post for more amazing nomenclature and fantastical plants)

In the case of the 1633 Herball, the pages were in order, but they were mislabeled.  This mislabeling affected the index as well, and the result was that if a reader wanted something on page 31 for example, then they would have to look for the corresponding mislabeled page 31, rather than the “real” page 31.

Between the 1597, 1633 and 1636 editions there were some differences in information the publishers, or editor (in the case of 1633 and 1636) included in the book.  For example, Jacob Thompson added six pages of his own “Letter to the Reader” in his 1633 edition.  This letter can be seen (and read) in “All is Fair in Plants and Printing 3.0.”  The front material also included a “Catalogue of Additions,” which was four leaves (or, 8 pages) long.

Page one of the “Catalogue of Additions” in the 1633 and 1636 editions of Gerard’s Herball, edited and expanded by Jacob Thompson.

In the 1597 edition, there was a colophon which was not present in the 1633, nor the 1636 editions.

Colophon in 1597 edition of the Herball.

The end material of the 1636 edition included a letter from Thompson to the reader, stating that there were no major changes between the 1633 and 1636 editions of the Herball.

Thompson’s “Advertisement to the Readers” at the end of the 1636 edition.

This is a note on the differences between editions.   There was next to no difference in font between the 1597, 1633 and 1636 editions of the Herball, with the exception of the use of black letter fonts, which were used more in the indexes of the 1597 edition, and more in the text of the 1633 and 1636 edition when indicating names in other languages.  The 1633 edition (edited by Jacob Thompson) is much longer than the 1597 edition; the 1597 edition consists of 1,392 pages, while the 1633 and 1636 editions total 1,598 pages (excluding the indexes and additional front matter in both cases; the 1633 edition had much more front and back matter than the 1597 edition; the 1636 edition was the same as the 1636 edition).

The woodblock illustrations ornamenting the pages in the 1633 edition (and thus also the 1636 edition) were much more elaborate than the 1597 edition.  For comparison, the chapter title pages and last page of Book 3 are included in the gallery below: