Culpeper, Gerard and the English Herbal Tradition

What the English herbals were

In the late 1500s and 1600s, printed "herbals" were illustrated books that described plants and their uses in medicine. In England, two names stand out: John Gerard, whose large illustrated Herball appeared in 1597, and Nicholas Culpeper, whose smaller, cheaper English Physitian appeared in 1652. They are part of the longer story told in the history of Western herbalism. This page is about them as history, not as advice.

John Gerard and the Herball

Gerard was trained as a barber-surgeon in London. [1] His Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes, was first published in 1597 and became a popular book in the 1600s. [1] A caution for modern readers: it is described as largely an English translation of Rembert Dodoens' 1554 herbal, with some added plants from Gerard's own garden and from North America. [1] Like many books of its day, it borrowed freely, and what it says about uses reflects earlier writers, not new testing.

Nicholas Culpeper and the English Physitian

Culpeper (1616-1654) is described as an astrological herbalist and translator of Latin medical works. [2] His books were published in London in the 1600s and stationers built a wide market on his name. [2]

A 2024 study in the journal Medical History compared his text with earlier herbals. It found that most descriptions and medicinal uses of English herbs in The English Physitian were lifted straight out of the work of the apothecary John Parkinson. [3] The author reads this as deliberate: Culpeper wanted to make the best information on native plant medicines available to ordinary people. [3] He attacked the College of Physicians of London, whose physicians most people could not afford. [3] The book was small and sold cheaply. [3]

The same study notes that Culpeper's astrological content drew attention away from the quality and source of much of the treatment guidance. [3] Another summary describes him as combining plant remedies with the older Galenic theory of humors and with astrology that it calls questionable. [4] Humors and planetary influence are traditional frameworks, not biology. For the older humoral background, see the glossary and herbal energetics.

How people used these books

A study of two late seventeenth-century women's notebooks shows how real readers used herbals. Both women read Gerard and Culpeper, but in very different ways. [5] They also drew on printed recipe books, pharmacopoeias and surgical handbooks. [5] The author concludes that these readers were careful, informed consumers of medical information. [5] That is a useful reminder: herbals were one source among many in household care. See also folk medicine and home remedies.

What research shows

Here the honest answer is short.

If you are curious about the books

Reading Gerard or Culpeper can be rewarding as history, art and social history. Treat any dose-like or "cure" wording as a historical statement. Nothing in these books replaces advice from a qualified clinician.