Exploring the Archive: Herbals and Herbalism

Kimberly Vera

Exploring Renaissance printed herbals at the Arthur F. Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies at UMass Amherst.

I’ve gotten many good opportunities to look into and invest time into cool resources that are on and around our campus. Going to the Kinney Center was super thought provoking. Ideas surrounding herbalism and cultivating from the environment in a sustainable way have been long in the collective consciousness.

The Kinney Center Arts & Academic Programs Coordinator, Liz Fox, PhD demonstrates the use of the printing press for students in the basement of the Center.

Also looking at the herb and seed library on campus has been an intriguing venture on its own. They’ve got a lot of symposiums and events going on that I never even knew about.

Typescript set for use on the Kinney Center’s printing press