Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654) wrote his herbal in English for ordinary households, and he gave every plant a ruling planet. The planet decided which illnesses a plant could treat and even when it should be picked. Herbs of the Sun, the book advises, are to be gathered on Sundays.
This is the 1792 London edition, “medicinally and astrologically arranged, after the manner of Culpeper” by the physician Joshua Hamilton, who enlarged it with several hundred plants taken mainly from Sir John Hill. Every entry describes the plant, where it grows and when it flowers, and closes with a paragraph headed Government and Virtues that names its planet. Comfrey is “an herb of Saturn under the sign Capricorn.” Venus owns Nipplewort.
Each leaf carries two pages of the herbal, with the entries for the plants named in the menu. One of them holds Hemlock, “that with which the Athenians used to put their criminals to death,” and Saturn, the book says, claims dominion over it. On the leaf with Coltsfoot and Columbines an old hand has written “Colts foot” in the margin; it is shown in the photographs. Choose a leaf from the menu; where the book names a ruling planet, it is given beside the name. Each leaf is one of a kind, and the photographs for each option show the actual leaf you will receive.
About our leaves. We sell leaves only from books that came to us already incomplete or damaged beyond reasonable restoration. We never break a complete copy. Each source book is an edition that survives in multiple copies in public collections. Anything of evidential value, such as a notable binding, an inscription or annotations, stays intact. We record the whole copy before it is dispersed. Where there is any doubt whether a book meets these standards, we consult an outside senior bookseller or conservator before proceeding.
Source of these leaves: Nicholas Culpeper and Joshua Hamilton, Culpeper’s English Family Physician, vol. 1, London: W. Locke, 1792 (ESTC T136362), an odd first volume without its second, disbound with the binding split and heavily foxed.
CULPEPER, Nicholas (1616–1654), and Joshua HAMILTON. Culpeper’s English Family Physician; or, Medical Herbal Enlarged, with Several Hundred Additional Plants, Principally from Sir John Hill... Medicinally and Astrologically Arranged, after the Manner of Culpeper. London: Printed for W. Locke, 1792. Volume 1, here dispersed as individual leaves. Octavo.
Physical Description: A single printed text leaf (two pages), octavo, 21 x 13 cm (8 1/4 x 5 1/8 in.).
Binding: None; disbound leaf.
Condition: Foxing, age-toning and light soiling, heavier on some leaves than others; edges with small chips and short tears. One leaf carries an old handwritten plant name in the margin, as noted above. Each option is photographed as it is.
Shipping: Each leaf ships in an archival sleeve.
Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654) wrote his herbal in English for ordinary households, and he gave every plant a ruling planet. The planet decided which illnesses a plant could treat and even when it should be picked. Herbs of the Sun, the book advises, are to be gathered on Sundays.
This is the 1792 London edition, “medicinally and astrologically arranged, after the manner of Culpeper” by the physician Joshua Hamilton, who enlarged it with several hundred plants taken mainly from Sir John Hill. Every entry describes the plant, where it grows and when it flowers, and closes with a paragraph headed Government and Virtues that names its planet. Comfrey is “an herb of Saturn under the sign Capricorn.” Venus owns Nipplewort.
Each leaf carries two pages of the herbal, with the entries for the plants named in the menu. One of them holds Hemlock, “that with which the Athenians used to put their criminals to death,” and Saturn, the book says, claims dominion over it. On the leaf with Coltsfoot and Columbines an old hand has written “Colts foot” in the margin; it is shown in the photographs. Choose a leaf from the menu; where the book names a ruling planet, it is given beside the name. Each leaf is one of a kind, and the photographs for each option show the actual leaf you will receive.
About our leaves. We sell leaves only from books that came to us already incomplete or damaged beyond reasonable restoration. We never break a complete copy. Each source book is an edition that survives in multiple copies in public collections. Anything of evidential value, such as a notable binding, an inscription or annotations, stays intact. We record the whole copy before it is dispersed. Where there is any doubt whether a book meets these standards, we consult an outside senior bookseller or conservator before proceeding.
Source of these leaves: Nicholas Culpeper and Joshua Hamilton, Culpeper’s English Family Physician, vol. 1, London: W. Locke, 1792 (ESTC T136362), an odd first volume without its second, disbound with the binding split and heavily foxed.
CULPEPER, Nicholas (1616–1654), and Joshua HAMILTON. Culpeper’s English Family Physician; or, Medical Herbal Enlarged, with Several Hundred Additional Plants, Principally from Sir John Hill... Medicinally and Astrologically Arranged, after the Manner of Culpeper. London: Printed for W. Locke, 1792. Volume 1, here dispersed as individual leaves. Octavo.
Physical Description: A single printed text leaf (two pages), octavo, 21 x 13 cm (8 1/4 x 5 1/8 in.).
Binding: None; disbound leaf.
Condition: Foxing, age-toning and light soiling, heavier on some leaves than others; edges with small chips and short tears. One leaf carries an old handwritten plant name in the margin, as noted above. Each option is photographed as it is.
Shipping: Each leaf ships in an archival sleeve.
Image 1 of 21
Image 2 of 21
Image 3 of 21
Image 4 of 21
Image 5 of 21
Image 6 of 21
Image 7 of 21
Image 8 of 21
Image 9 of 21
Image 10 of 21
Image 11 of 21
Image 12 of 21
Image 13 of 21
Image 14 of 21
Image 15 of 21
Image 16 of 21
Image 17 of 21
Image 18 of 21
Image 19 of 21
Image 20 of 21
Image 21 of 21