Culpeper's Complete Herbal (eBook)
Culpeper’s Complete Herbal is a renowned work of herbal medicine written by Nicholas Culpeper and first published in 1653. Culpeper was an English botanist, physician, and astrologer who sought to make medical knowledge accessible to ordinary people at a time when it was controlled by the wealthy and educated elite. His approach combined practical herbal remedies with astrological principles, reflecting the scientific and mystical beliefs of 17th-century England.
The book serves as a comprehensive guide to the medicinal properties of plants, describing hundreds of herbs, their uses, preparations, and healing effects. Culpeper translated complex Latin medical texts into English, listing plants alphabetically and explaining how each could be used to treat specific ailments — from common colds and wounds to more serious diseases. What set his work apart was the inclusion of astrological correspondences, linking plants to celestial bodies and zodiac signs, which he believed influenced their healing powers.
Culpeper’s Complete Herbal became one of the most popular and enduring medical guides ever published. It was valued not only for its practical remedies but also for its vivid descriptions of plants and their uses in everyday life. Many of the herbs he documented — such as chamomile, dandelion, and nettle — are still used in herbal medicine today.
Beyond its scientific content, the book also represented a democratic revolution in medicine. By writing in plain English and challenging the authority of physicians who charged high fees, Culpeper empowered common people to care for their own health.
Over three centuries later, Culpeper’s Complete Herbal remains a cornerstone in the history of herbalism and alternative medicine — admired both as a practical manual of natural healing and as a remarkable reflection of the intersection between nature, science, and belief in early modern England.
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About the Author
Nicholas Culpeper was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. His published books include The English Physician (1652) and the Complete Herbal (1653), which contain a rich store of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge, and Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick (1655), which is one of the most detailed documents we have on the practice of medical astrology in Early Modern Europe.
Culpeper spent the greater part of his life in the English outdoors cataloging hundreds of medicinal herbs. He criticized what he considered the unnatural methods of his contemporaries, writing: "This not being pleasing, and less profitable to me, 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. HONESTY, a stranger in our days, to publish it to the world, I have done it."
Culpeper came from a long line of notable people including Thomas Culpeper, the lover of Catherine Howard (also a distant relative) who was sentenced to death by Catherine's husband, King Henry VIII.