The Tudor Remedy Book: Curious Cures for Common Complaints

by Nicholas Culpeper

This little book of remedies has been compiled from the writings of Nicholas Culpeper whose 17th-century "Complete Herbal" and "English Physician" were popular in many households until late into the 19th century. The A-Z of complaints with suggested remedies include asthma, piles and vomiting.

Genres: Nonfiction

62 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 1996

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.

Reviews

[Melissa Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and yet, weird read but a very good read for any history lovers out there, especially lovers of the Tudor era!