Table of Contents

Foreword - Elizabeth Williamson 1. The Fragmentation of Herbal History: The Way Forward - Anne Stobart (Middlesex University, UK) and Susan Francia (independent scholar) Section I Introduction to Section 1: Revisiting the Traditional Texts: Comparative Textual Analysis and New Perspectives on Original Sources - Anne Stobart and Susan Francia 2. Early Greek Medicine: Evidence of Models, Methods and Materia medica - Vicki Pitman (independent scholar) 3. Evaluating the Content of Medieval Herbals - Anne Van Arsdall (University of New Mexico, USA) 4. Early-modern Midwifery Manuals and Herbal Practice - Elaine Hobby (Loughborough University, UK) 5. An Anatomy of The English Physitian - Graeme Tobyn (University of Central Lancashire, UK) Section II Introduction to Section 2: Using New Archival Sources: Extending the Evidence Available - Susan Francia and Anne Stobart 6. The Use of Trade Accounts to Uncover the Importance of Cumin as a Medicinal Plant in Medieval England - Susan Francia 7. Early Modern Childbirth and Herbs – The Challenge of Finding the Sources - Nicky Wesson (independent scholar) 8. Testamentary Records of the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries as a Source for the History of Herbal Medicine in England - Richard Aspin (Wellcome Library, UK) Section III Introduction to Section 3: Focusing on One Individual: Biographical and Other Textual Sources - Susan Francia and Anne Stobart 9. Galen’s Simple Medicines: Problems in Ancient Herbal Medicine - John Wilkins (University of Exeter, UK) 10. Deciphering Dioscorides: Mountains and Molehills? - Alison Denham (University of Central Lancashire, UK) and Midge Whitelegg (formerly University of Central Lancashire, UK) 11. William Turner – A Milestone in Botanical Medicine - Marie Addyman (independent scholar) 12. John Parkinson: Gardener and Apothecary of London - Jill Francis (University of Birmingham, UK) Section IV Introduction to Section 4: Contributions from Other Disciplines - Susan Francia and Anne Stobart 13. Archaeological Sources for the History of Herbal Medicine Practice: The Case Study of St John's Wort with Valerian at Soutra Medieval Hospital - Brian Moffat (Soutra Hospital Archaeoethnopharmacological Research Project, Scotland) 14. How Can Ethnobotany Contribute to the History of Western Herbal Medicine? A Mesoamerican Answer - Anna Waldstein (University of Kent, UK) 15. The History of Herbal Medicine as a Developing Field - Anne Stobart and Susan Francia Glossary Bibliography Index

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An interdisciplinary collection that brings together work focused on the historical use of plants as medicines from various fields.

About the Author

Susan Francia is a member of St Cross College, Oxford, UK, and an independent researcher. She is a former teacher of herbal medicine and, most recently, of the history of herbal medicine at Middlesex University, UK. Anne Stobart is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, UK and former Director of Programmes in Complementary Health Sciences and Programme Leader of the BSc in Herbal Medicine at Middlesex University, UK. She is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the newly established Journal of Herbal Medicine (Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone).

Reviews

This is a broad investigation of sources for the history of herbal medicine … it certainly will inform and delight researchers in this very broad field of study.
*Herbalgram*

Historical research underpinning Western herbal medicine lacks systematic and scholarly documentation, largely due to the advent of biomedicine in the early 1900s. With the acceptance of the germ theory of disease and the availability of a burgeoning array of pharmaceutical "remedies," research in the field gradually fell into decline. This book provides a solid foundation for fleshing out this important historical record. Editors Francia (St. Cross College, Univ. of Oxford, UK) and Stobart (Univ. of Exeter, UK) are both herbal medicine historians and accomplished practitioners. … Each chapter contains an introduction, a conclusion, a recommended reading list, and notes. Authors rely on primary sources, including manuscripts and printed herbals (especially early-modern midwifery manuals); archival sources, including an innovative exploration of trade and probate accounts to determine popularity and exchange rates for cumin in medieval England; and research from art history, archaeology, ethnobotany, and other disciplines. This is an invaluable resource for readers interested in the historical aspects of herbal medicine. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners.
*CHOICE*