BREVERTON’S COMPLETE HERBAL: A BOOK OF REMARKABLE PLANTS AND THEIR USES – BASED ON NICOLAS CULPEPER’S THE ENGLISH PHYSITIAN OF 1652 AND COMPLEAT HERBALL OF 1653

384pp Hardback Illustrated Quercus September 2011

WELSH COUNTRY November 2011

I found this absolutely fascinating. It would make an ideal gift for anyone interested in herbal medicine – the history, the folklore, its champions, and, in particular, its modern-day uses. Terry Breverton has taken a ground-breaking book by Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) and brought it bang up-to-date, describing the properties of over 250 herbs, spices and fruits, including New World herbs not found in Culpeper’s original book. There are bonus sections on the pioneers of herbal medicine, famous herb gardens, the Doctrine of Signatures, herbs and astrology, and more. Many entries will be familiar to us, such as Aloe Vera, Valerian, Lemon Balm, Borage and Milk Thistle, but there’s so much more. It is entertaining as well as informative. I recommend it.

HERBAL GARDEN NEWS September 2011

… a reworking of the 17th century classic Culpeper book, An informative and entertaining guide with over 250 descriptions of herbs and spices. This month’s STAR PRIZE award.

HERBAL GOOD BOOK GUIDE September 2012

Paying homage to the pioneering work by 17th century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, Terry Breverton presents an invaluable contemporary guide to over 250 plants and herbs and their medical properties. Culpeper believed that medical knowledge should be accessible to all rather than the privileged few, and his books have always remained in print. Arranged alphabetically with interesting snippets of folklore accompanying each entry, and with a short series of essays on affiliated topics, there is information on each plant’s history and its specific properties, herbs being used in a variety of ways from flavouring dishes, as essential oils, or as the basis for many home remedies. An indispensable companion for every home.

Amazon description: ‘Nicholas Culpeper's The English Physitian: or an Astrologo-physical Discourse of the Vulgar Herbs of This Nation is more commonly known as Culpeper's Complete Herbal. It was first printed in September 1653 (Culpeper died in January 1654) and immediately became a classic reference that is as fascinating today as it was more than 350 years ago. Breverton's Complete Herbal is a reworking of that classic text for a modern-day audience. The book identifies each of Culpeper's herbs and spices, with a description of their appearance and Latin name/family; plus descriptions of the herbs' uses in medicine, dyeing and/or cuisine from the Greeks to the present day. Informative and entertaining, and is packed with interesting facts associated with herbs. For example, most herbs have their uses attached to their old names: Lungwort cured lung illnesses, Fleabane was strewn to get rid of fleas, Wolfbane poisoned wolves, and Henbane killed chickens. Dog's Grass was chewed by dogs when they were sick, Eye-Bright cured eye illnesses, Ducks-Meat was pond-algae, Gout-Herb cured gout, Mad-Wort cured the bite of a mad dog, Heart's-Ease was for heart illness, and Rupture-Wort and Spleen-Wort helped ruptures and spleen illnesses. Arranged alphabetically, Breverton's Complete Herbal describes 250 herbs and spices while containing feature sidebars and spreads on scented herb/medicinal gardens, the great herbalists, as well as New World herbs.

Many 5* reviews on Amazon, this is my favourite: Hilary Stone: ‘Lovely book for everyone, from general interest to herbalists. ‘I got my copy from the Chelsea physician garden, and love this essentially ‘updated’ Culpeper’s herbal. It’s got just the right balance of folklore, constituents and descriptions for you to identify what you need to look up to find more detailed scientific information, whilst being interesting enough to read as a book in it’s own right. Out of all my Mat Meds and herbals, this is the one I enjoy looking at the most. Really recommend.’