Cabinet 7: Herbals

Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) was an apothecary with distinctly radical tendencies. He was tried and acquitted for witchcraft in 1642, and committed himself to the service of the sick among the poor, powerless, and uneducated. In this capacity, he undertook to translate, without permission, the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis from Latin into English, a work belonging to the College of Physicians, enabling the poor to help themselves.

Nicholas Culpeper, Pharmacopoeia Londinensis; or, The London Dispensatory, Further Adorned by the Studies and Collections of the Fellows Now Living, in the Said College (London, Awnsham and John Churchill, 1695) de Beer Eb 1695 C