Apricot finds its way into English in early descriptions of plants and herbs. In the first 200 years since it is mentioned, there are some ten different ways of spelling it. The first time the apricot appears in English is in New Herbal published in 1551 (William Turner: Man of the Day). The father of English botany describes the apricot as being “less than other peaches” and makes reference to an apricot tree.
Only 20 years later, there is another early reference to the apricot in the translation Dodoens of another New Herbal with a subtitle – the History of Plants. The author describes many herbs and their medical uses. In the years after publication, this book was the most translated book after the Bible. The English translator was a personality in his own right. Henry Lyte was a collector of antiques and plants and translated a French translation of the original work into English, making extensive references to Turner’s work. Interestingly enough the work was published in Antwerp by the same publisher as the original work. At the time extensive art work was required for the wood cuts. Once done, they were simply too expensive to be redone and too heavy to be transported.
The reference to apricots in this 1578 translation takes up the history of the word. After stating that there are two kinds of peaches, Lyte continues “the other kinds are sooner ripe, which is why they are called apricot”. This goes back to the Latin for praecoquum meaning ripe early. Via Portuguese it found its way into French, and then into English translation.
Shakespeare certainly knew them. In Richard II the queen’s gardener talks about apricot trees laden with apricots. When in Midsummer Night’s apricots are a sort of luxury food alongside blackberries.
