De Boodt was an avid gems and minerals collector who travelled widely to various mining regions in Belgium, Germany, Bohemia and Silesia to collect samples.

[3] In 1587 the Flemish doctor and pioneering botanist Carolus Clusius left the imperial botanical garden of Emperor Rudolph II in Prague, de Boodt took over his position.

[5] In January 1604 Anselme Boece de Boodt, with a salary of 40 florins, was appointed advisor - and above all personal physician to the emperor - Rodolphi II Roman Imperatoris cubicularius medicus as specified in his portrait by Sadeler.

[5] De Boodt prepared a Theatrum Instrumentarum Mechanicorum for Emperor Rudolph II (unpublished), which described a wide range of scientific instruments.

He thus aimed to depict all creatures of the natural world as his compatriot Joris Hoefnagel who was also working at Rudolph II's court had done earlier in his series of the Four Elements.

De Boodt made most of the drawings himself but also engaged the services of other artists such as his compatriot Elias Verhulst from Mechelen.

He summarized his work in the Gemmarum et Lapidum Historia (The History of Gems and Stones), the finest gemological treatise and encyclopedia ever written for this time.

[1] The book was used for many centuries for its information on the splitting of diamonds, how to recognize fake gems, colour-fast mixes for painters, exploration sites for geologists, the hardness of rocks and the health benefits of certain minerals.

[6] The publication of the Gemmarum et Lapidum Historia ensured de Boodt's European reputation and he could afford to live in luxury.

Here he remained active as a physician, painted and performed on string instruments songs from his own Luteboec (Book of the Lute).

He translated the Consolatione Philosophiae of Boethius into Dutch verse and for the youth he published spiritual liedekens (songs) such as De Baene des Deugds (The Way of Virtue) (1624) and De Baene des Hemels ende der Deughden (The Way of Heaven and the Virtues) (Nicolaes Breyghel, 1628).

He compiled the first herbal book in Bruges with sixty plates, published posthumously by his young friend Vredius in 1640 under the title Anselmi Boëtii de Boot I.C.