In true courtly style, John Gerarde dressed to impress. He could justifiably say that he had "in my time wore three-pile" velvet - unlike the boastful Autolycus in The Winter's Tale (Act 4, Scene3).

Note his velvet gown, doublet, signet ring, and starched ruff. This portrait appears in his own best-seller, Herbal (1597).
It was among the most successful illustrated books of its time.
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