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).
Bibliotheca Botanica The Preface, dated 8 August 1735, on pages 2–19 contains Linnaeus’s extended account of botanical history in the form of a botanical analogy, in pages 2–3 Linnaeus lists previous bibliographers and then gives his account of botanical history leading to a golden age lasting from 1683 to 1703 (see also "Incrementa Botanices", Biuur 1753 and "Reformatio Botanices", Reftelius, 1762, for other historical notes by Linnaeus). The Preface mentions that "Bibliotheca Botanica" was the first part of a planned "Bibliotheca medica" (which he did not produce).