This week, have a close look at one of the lovely herbals that are part of our collection:
You can turn the pages above or follow the link below to flip through the volume.
Nicholas Culpeper, author of Culpeper’s complete herbal: with nearly four hundred medicines, made from English herbs, physically applied to the cure of all disorders incident to man; with rules for compuounding them: also, directions for making syrups, ointments, &c was a seventeenth century English apothecary and herbalist.
He went against the express desire of Royal College of Physicians to popularize herbal medicine and medicine in general, preparing his own texts on astrology and midwifery as well as herbalism. Culpeper believed that the contemporary Dissenter trend towards making religious discourse available to all should be taken seriously by other fields of expertise, too.
The Royal College didn’t take this kindly and tried several times to discredit Culpeper and his works. It probably didn’t help Culpeper’s case that, without the College’s permission, he translated their Pharmacopoeia Londonesis into English.
As always, for more from the Medical Heritage Library, please visit our full collection!
His influence is demonstrated by the existence of a chain of “Culpeper” herb and spice shops in the United Kingdom , India and beyond, and by the continued popularity of his remedies among New Age and alternative holistic medicine practitioners.