Culpeper's Complete Herbal: Over 400 Herbs And Their Uses

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Culpeper saw medicine as a public asset, not a commercial secret, and the prices physicians charged as too high compared with the cheap, universal availability of nature's medicine. He felt the use of Latin and the high fees charged by doctors, lawyers and priests worked to deprive the public of power and freedom. Robert Hartle, 2017, The New Churchyard: from Moorfields marsh to Bethlem burial ground, Brokers Row and Liverpool Street, Crossrail: London, p. 177.

Arber, Agnes (2010) [1912]. Herbals: Their Origin and Evolution. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-01671-1. Thulesius, O (September 1994). "Nicholas Culpeper, father of English midwifery". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 87 (9): 552–556. doi: 10.1177/014107689408700922. PMC 1294777. PMID 7932467. Culpeper's emphasis on reason rather than tradition is reflected in the introduction to his Complete Herbal. He was one of the best-known astrological botanists of his day, [9] pairing the plants and diseases with planetary influences, countering illnesses with nostrums that were paired with an opposing planetary influence. Combining remedial care with Galenic humoral philosophy and questionable astrology, he forged a strangely workable system of medicine; combined with his "Singles" forceful commentaries, Culpeper was a widely read source for medical treatment in his time.

Enjoy our books. Much more information and our a huge short story collection can be found on the frames version of Culpeper attempted to make medical treatments more accessible to lay persons by educating them about maintaining their health. Ultimately his ambition was to reform the system of medicine by questioning traditional methods and knowledge and exploring new solutions for ill health. The systematisation of the use of herbals by Culpeper was a key development in the evolution of modern pharmaceuticals, most of which originally had herbal origins. [8] Jones, D. A. (August 1980). "Nicholas Culpeper and his Pharmacopoeia". Pharmaceutical Historian. 10 (2): 9–10. PMID 11630704. COWEN, D (April 1956). "The Boston editions of Nicholas Culpeper". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. 11 (2): 156–165. doi: 10.1093/jhmas/XI.2.156. PMID 3306948. To add insult to injury, Culpeper’s text was rife with funny and insulting remarks directed towards the Royal College, highlighting the failings of the original text.

Culpeper was a radical in his time, angering his fellow physicians by condemning their greed, unwillingness to stray from Galen and use of harmful practices such as toxic remedies and bloodletting. The Society of Apothecaries were similarly incensed by the way he suggested cheap herbal remedies, as opposed to their expensive concoctions. [8] Philosophy of herbalism [ edit ] POYNTER, F. N. (January 1962). "Nicholas CULPEPER and his books". Jornal de historia da medicina. 17: 152–167. doi: 10.1093/jhmas/xvii.1.152. PMID 14037402. The herbalist: Nicholas Culpeper and the fight for medical freedom, by Benjamin Woolley, London: HarperCollins, 2004. Anemone, as a juice applied externally to clean ulcerations, infections and cure leprosy; or inhaled to clear the nostrils

Nicholas Culpeper cited in The herbalist: Nicholas Culpeper and the fight for medical freedom, by Benjamin Woolley, London: HarperCollins, 2004, p. 320. Affordable, witty and highly practical, Culpeper's herbal went on to become one of the most popular and enduring books in publishing history, so much so that it is still in print today. Dittany, as an abortifacient, to induce labour; as a treatment for poisoned weapons, and to draw out splinters and broken bones; the smell is said to drive away "venomous beasts". (One species of dittany, Dictamnus albus, is now known to contain alkaloids, limonoid triterpenoids, flavonoids, sesquiterpenoids, coumarins, and phenylpropane [11]) Influenced during his apprenticeship by the radical preacher John Goodwin, who said no authority was above question, Culpeper became a radical republican and opposed the "closed shop" of medicine enforced by censors of the College of Physicians. In his youth, Culpeper translated medical and herbal texts for his master, such as the London Pharmacopaeia from Latin. During the political turmoil of the English civil war, the College of Physicians was unable to enforce its ban on the publication of medical texts, and Culpeper deliberately chose to publish his translations in vernacular English as self-help medical guides for use by the poor, who could not afford to consult physicians. He followed them up with a manual on childbirth and with his main work, The English Physician, which was deliberately sold cheaply. It became available also in colonial America and has been in print continually since the 17th century. Scialabba, George (30 November 2004). "The Worst Medicine; book review of 'Heal Thyself: Nicholas Culpeper and the Seventeenth-Century Struggle to Bring Medicine to the People' ". Washington Post (online) . Retrieved 31 October 2007.