ACCESSING OLD HERBALS AND MEDICAL TEXTS
The following websites contain links to list of transcribed online herbal articles and books:
Herbal History Network (gives lists of primary and secondary resources by era)
Henriette Kress’s collection of classic herbals (18th/19th century eclectic herbals & medical texts)
Books available online:
Ancient/Classical herbals (Pre 500 CE)
Dioscorides, (ca. 50-70). De materia medica. Osbaldeston, T., Modern English translation 2000. Ibidis Press.
Pliny the Elder, (ca. 77-79). Natural History. Bostock, J. 1855 translation. Taylor and Francis.
Unknown. (ca. 1550BC). The Papyrus Ebers. Translated from the German version by Cyril P. Bryan. (early 20th C undated). Ares Publishers.
Medieval to Renaissance (500 CE to 1500 CE)
Cockayne, T. (1864). Leechdoms, wortcunning, and starcraft of early England. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green. [This is a translation of the Lacnunga, a herbal ca. 1000 AD]
Early Modern period (1500 CE to 1800 CE)
Blackwell, E (1737). A Curious Herbal. Printed for Samuel Harding.
Culpeper, N. (1816). Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. Richard Evans. [Take care with this as in later reprints, not all herbs and uses are originally from Culpeper]
Culpeper, N., (1789). The English Physitian and Complete Herbal. Printed for the author, and sold at the British Directory Office. [Take care with this as in later reprints, not all herbs and uses are originally from Culpeper]
Gerard, J. (1636). The Herball: or a Generall Historie of Plantes. London: Adam Islip.
Parkinson, J. (1629). Paradisi in Sole, Paradisus Terrestris (1905 Edition). Methuen.
Parkinson, J., (1640). Theatrum Botanicum. Thomas Coates.
Roderic, D., (1805). The Physicians of Myddvai. Richard Whitakers. [This is a translation of herbal book based on works 12th - 17th century]
Woodville W., (1790). Medical Botany. 3 vols + Supplement. Modern period (1800 CE to present day)
Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal. (1971 reprint). Dover Publications.