Which botanist published the most popular botany book of his time?
John Gerard John Gerard, also spelt John Gerarde, (c. 1545–1612) was a botanist and herbalist. He maintained a large herbal garden in London. His chief notability is as the author of a large (1,484 pages) illustrated "Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes". First published in 1597, it was the most widely circulated botany book in English in the 17th century. Except for the additions of a number of plants from his own garden and from North America, Gerard's "Herbal" is largely an unacknowledged English translation of Rembert Dodoens's herbal originally published in 1554, itself also highly popular (in Dutch, Latin, French and other English translations).
Mary Anna Day Mary Anna Day (1852–1924) was an American botanist and librarian at the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University from 1893 to 1924. She edited and compiled the "Card Index of New Genera, Species, and Varieties of American Plants", a quarterly publication that was considered "indispensable" to botanists. By 1923, the publication contained about 170,000 cards. Her work involved checking bibliographical references, proofreading manuscripts, preparing indexes and statistics on the library and herbarium collections." Her publications also include a "List of local floras of New England" and "Herbariums of New England" for the New England Botanical Club.