Critical Approaches to the History of Western

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2014

Why has the history of Western herbal medicine received such little research coverage in any systematic and authoritative way, even though it has figured large in both lay and learned healthcare of the past? What methods and sources are most appropriate for the study of medicinal herbs and herbal practices of the past? This collection provides historians with a coherent guide to a variety of sources in relation to medicinal plants that they have thus far lacked.

Critical Approaches to the History of Western Herbal Medicine encourages a serious re-assessment of research in the history of herbal medicine and provides examples of appropriate methodologies and critical examinations of relevant sources. In this innovative collection, historians and researchers from a range of disciplines come together to share material on the identification and use of medicinal plants, the activities of people involved with herbal medicine and the investigation of past herbal therapeutic beliefs and practice. Classical and medieval scholars, social and literary historians, archaeologists and ethnobotanists all contribute to this exploration of the history of Western herbal medicine.

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).

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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Critical Approaches to the History of Western Herbal Medicine From Classical Antiquity to the Early Modern Period

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials