CULPEPER, Nicolas, c. 1616-1654. CULPEPER'S COMPLETE HERBAL, ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED, and KEY TO PHYSIC.
London: Published by Thomas Kelly, No.. 17, Paternoster Road & Printed by J. Hadden, Tabernacle Walk, 1823.
Quarto, 28 cm.
Bookplate: Gift of Mr. & Mrs. James s. Douglas, Jr.
40 leaves of color plates interspersed with leaves of explanatory text. 398 pages.
References: Johnston 773 Oak Spring 41.
CULPEPER, Nicolas, c. 1616-1654. THE COMPLETE HERBAL, ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED, and KEY TO PHYSIC.
London: Published by Thomas Kelly, No. 17, Paternoster Road & Printed by A. Cross, A New Edition, MDCCL (1850).
Quarto, 27 cm., marbled end papers
Bookplates: Abel Smith, Woodhall Park
In Memoriam, Mrs. James H. Douglas
20 leaves of color plates follow title page with leaves of explanatory text following illustrations. 398 pages.
References: Johnston 773 Oak Spring 41.
Author Note
Astrological botany became a widely popular theory in seventeenth century England and was epitomized in the life and works of Nicolas Culpeper. Culpeper set himself up as an astrologer, herbalist and physician using his garden of medicinal plants at Spitalfields, London. His astrological herbalism which “reasoned” that all herbs and diseases were under the dominion of a planet or constellation coupled with a beguiling “sales pitch” was ridiculed by the established medical community while the general public remained his faithful following. Rhode says of Culpeper, “It is impossible to look at the portrait of that light-hearted rogue without realizing that there must have been something extraordinarily attractive about the man who was the last to set up publicly as an astrologer and herb doctor.” Much of Culpeper’s work was to provide the layman with the medical knowledge controlled at the time by the College of Physicians. His publication of an unauthorized translation from Latin into English of a current medical text, outraged and most likely frightened the self-serving physicians and pharmacists of the day . The Complete Herbal contains Culpeper’s allegorical response to his critics in his celebrated “Epistle to the Reader”:
"I consulted with my two brothers, Dr. Reason and Dr. Experience, and took a Voyage to visit my mother Nature, by whose advice, together with the help of Dr. Diligence, I at last obtained my desire; and, being warned by Mr. Honest, a stranger in our days, to publish it to the world, I have done it." With all of the folly of Culpeper’s astrological herbalism, his works brought the information of the day to the people and resulted in medical reforms. “Folly does occasionally commit such excessive absurdity that common sense if forced, for the moment, to rescue mankind from itself.” ( Anderson 186) The Complete Herbal is a compilation which includes Culpeper’s The English Physician and Family Dispensatory, Directions for making Syrups, etc. and A key to Galen’s Method of physic. The book was widely popular and still remains in print. |