Nicholas Culpeper

The Complete Herbal (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

All other Authors that have written of the nature of Herbs, give not a bit of reason why such an Herb was appropriated to such a part of the body, nor why it cured such a disease. Truly my own body being sickly, brought me easily into a capacity, to know that health was the greatest of all earthly blessings, and truly he was never sick that doth not believe it. Then I considered that all medicines were compounded of Herbs, Roots, Flowers, Seeds, &c., and this first set me to work in studying the nature of simples, most of which I knew by sight before; and indeed all the Authors I could read gave me but little satisfaction in this particular, or none at all. I cannot build my faith upon Authors’ words, nor believe a thing because they say it, and could wish every body were of my mind in this,—to labour to be able to give a reason for every thing they say or do. They say Reason makes a man differ from a Beast; if that be true, pray what are they that, instead of reason for their judgment, quote old Authors? Perhaps their authors knew a reason for what they wrote, perhaps they did not; what is that to us? Do we know it? Truly in writing this work first, to satisfy myself, I drew out all the virtues of the vulgar or common Herbs, Plants, and Trees, &c., out of the best or most approved authors I had, or could get; and having done so, I set myself to study the reason of them.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Nicholas Culpeper
• Erscheinungstermin: 21. November 2015
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9788892519985
• Artikelnr.: 44131414

Autorenporträt

Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654), was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. His lasting legacy is the seminal book 'The Complete Herbal' (1653), which provided an extensive catalogue of English flora and their uses in herbal medicine. Culpeper's work deviated from the cryptic methods of his time; he insisted on using English rather than Latin, which made his treatments and the knowledge of herbs accessible to the common people. Born in Ockley, Surrey, Culpeper was educated at Cambridge but left to apprentice with an apothecary. Later, moving to London, he began practicing medicine without the license from The College of Physicians, which made him a radical figure in the 17th century. His own medical practice and the publication of 'The English Physician' (another name for 'The Complete Herbal') offered the common folk an alternative to the expensive and often inaccessible services of trained physicians. The book includes a comprehensive account of each herb's description, place of growth, time of collection, and medical virtues. Culpeper's close ties to the natural world and astrological influences on medicine and healing earned him substantial popularity, but also the ire of professional peers. Regardless, his work remains an influential piece of literature in herbalism and an early example of the democratization of healthcare knowledge.