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The Complete Herbal

Nicholas Culpeper · 1653 (1850 ed.) · 250,290 words

Culpeper’s famous astrological herbal: hundreds of English plants with their descriptions, places, times, planetary rulers and “government and virtues”.

Historical text: Culpeper’s remedies are recorded as history and folklore, not as medical advice.

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The Complete Herbal

Transcriber's Note: As with any medicinal work first published in the 1600s and rewritten countless times, it should go without saying to not attempt these recipes. Just in case, the transcriber has now said it. Also, many and varied were the printing and publishing anomalies, for a more complete explanation, see the extensive notes collected at the end of this text.

THE
COMPLETE HERBAL;
TO WHICH IS NOW ADDED, UPWARDS OF
ONE HUNDRED ADDITIONAL HERBS,
WITH A DISPLAY OF THEIR
Medicinal and Occult Qualities
PHYSICALLY APPLIED TO
THE CURE OF ALL DISORDERS INCIDENT TO MANKIND:
TO WHICH ARE NOW FIRST ANNEXED, THE
ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED,
AND
KEY TO PHYSIC.
WITH
RULES FOR COMPOUNDING MEDICINE ACCORDING TO THE TRUE SYSTEM OF NATURE.
FORMING A COMPLETE
FAMILY DISPENSATORY AND NATURAL SYSTEM OF PHYSIC.

————————————
BY NICHOLAS CULPEPER, M.D.
————————————
TO WHICH IS ALSO ADDED,
UPWARDS OF FIFTY CHOICE RECEIPTS,
SELECTED FROM THE AUTHOR’S LAST LEGACY TO HIS WIFE.
A NEW EDITION,
WITH A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL DISEASES TO WHICH THE HUMAN BODY IS LIABLE,
AND A GENERAL INDEX.
Illustrated by Engravings of numerous British Herbs and Plants, correctly coloured from nature.
———————
“The Lord hath created Medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them.”—Ecc. xxxviii. 4.
———————
LONDON:
THOMAS KELLY, 17, PATERNOSTER ROW.
———
MDCCCL.

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Contents

  1. The Complete Herbal
  2. Culpeper’s Original Epistle to the Reader
  3. To his Dearest Consort Mrs. Alice Culpeper
  4. The English Physician Enlarged (part 1)
  5. The English Physician Enlarged (part 2)
  6. The English Physician Enlarged (part 3)
  7. The English Physician Enlarged (part 4)
  8. The English Physician Enlarged (part 5)
  9. The English Physician Enlarged (part 6)
  10. The English Physician Enlarged (part 7)
  11. The English Physician Enlarged (part 8)
  12. The English Physician Enlarged (part 9)
  13. The English Physician Enlarged (part 10)
  14. Directions for Making Syrups, Conserves, &c. &c
  15. Section II: The way of making and keeping all necessary Compounds
  16. Chapter II: Of Syrups
  17. The English Physician and Family Dispensatory
  18. Roots
  19. Barks
  20. Woods and their Chips, or Raspings
  21. Herbs and their Leaves
  22. Flowers
  23. Fruits and their Buds
  24. Seeds or Grains
  25. Tears, Liquors, and Rozins
  26. Juices
  27. Things Bred from Plants
  28. Living Creatures
  29. Parts of Living Creatures, and Excrements
  30. Belonging to the Sea
  31. Metals, Minerals, and Stones
  32. A Catalogue of Simples in the New Dispensatory (part 1)
  33. A Catalogue of Simples in the New Dispensatory (part 2)
  34. A Catalogue of Simples in the New Dispensatory (part 3)
  35. A Catalogue of Simples in the New Dispensatory (part 4)
  36. A Catalogue of Simples in the New Dispensatory (part 5)
  37. A Key to Galen’s Method of Physic
  38. Section I
  39. Section II: Of the appropriation of Medicines to the: Several parts of the body
  40. Section III: Of the propriety or operation of Medicines
  41. Culpeper’s Last Legacies
  42. A List of the Principal Diseases

About this edition

Source: Project Gutenberg #49513

Public domain: Public domain worldwide.

What’s included: The complete herbal as edited in the Project Gutenberg text. Plates are not included.

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