The lexicographic reception of the Herrera’s vocabulary about vegetable gardens

Abstract

According to the few researchers who have approached Alonso de Herrera's Libro de agricultura, the accuracy and richness of its terminology would be two of its main features. Under this premise, in this paper we focus on the fourth book of this six-volume treatise on agriculture, which is dedicated to the knowledge of everything related to the vegetable gardens. After an appropriate lexicological classification of the selected vocabulary, we examine the effect that these words has haved on the Spanish lexicographic tradition, with particular attention to the Diccionario de autoridades—after being Herrera selected as one of the classics of the Hispanic literature for its preparation—, as well as the Covarrubias' Tesoro (1611)—in this case is due to its noticeable encyclopedism, which connect with the rich and assorted information supplied by Herrera—. After our analysis, we conclude the low impact of the Libro de agricultura in the first academic dictionary. On the other hand, we detect a greater harmony between Covarrubias and Herrera, having found several lexicographical articles from the Tesoro with information of vegetable gardens clearly coinciding with the Libro de agricultura.