The Complete Herbal 1953 Edition with Hand Coloured Botanical Drawings
The Complete Herbal — Nicholas Culpeper
1953 Commemorative Facsimile Edition | Leather & Cloth Binding | Illustrated
A handsome and highly collectible edition of Nicholas Culpeper’s The Complete Herbal, one of the most influential works in the history of English herbal medicine. This edition was privately printed at The Kynoch Press, Birmingham, for Imperial Chemical (Pharmaceuticals) Limited in 1953, commemorating the 300th anniversary of the 1653 edition. It reproduces the historic text and botanical illustrations of the seventeenth-century work.
About the Book
Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654) was an English herbalist, physician and astrologer whose writings helped make knowledge of medicinal plants accessible to ordinary readers. The Complete Herbal combines descriptions of herbs and plants with their traditional medicinal applications and the astrological or “occult” associations characteristic of seventeenth-century medicine.
This substantial edition contains x + 603 pages and includes Culpeper’s The English Physician Enlarged and Key to Physic, together with a general index and more than fifty traditional preparations or “receipts.”
The volume is particularly attractive for its illustrations. Bibliographical records describe a frontispiece and 16 colour plates, reproduced using colour auto-lithography to retain the character of the original illustrations.
Edition Details
Title: The Complete Herbal
Author: Nicholas Culpeper, M.D.
Edition: New Edition / Commemorative Facsimile Edition
Publication Year: 1953 — confirmed by the Roman numerals MCMLIII on the title page
Publisher: Imperial Chemical (Pharmaceuticals) Limited
Printer: The Kynoch Press, Birmingham
Language: English
Pagination: x + 603 pages
Illustrations: Frontispiece and 16 colour plates
Format: Large octavo
Binding: Publisher’s half/quarter leather with cloth-covered boards; comparable copies are described as red morocco with cloth boards.
Collector’s Note
This is not an original 1653 printing. It is the desirable 1953 300th-anniversary facsimile edition, produced three centuries after the edition it reproduces. The Wellcome Collection specifically catalogues the volume as a 1953 edition “reprinted from the original edition of 1653.
The period-style leather spine, raised bands and decorative tooling give the book considerable shelf presence. The copy shown appears to retain its original leather-and-cloth binding, with some age-related marking and discolouration visible to the cloth boards. Exact condition should be assessed from all photographs.
A beautiful 1953 commemorative edition of Nicholas Culpeper’s celebrated The Complete Herbal, privately printed by The Kynoch Press for Imperial Chemical (Pharmaceuticals) Limited to mark three centuries since the historic 1653 edition.
One of the great classics of English herbalism, Culpeper’s work brings together traditional knowledge of British herbs, their medicinal uses and the fascinating astrological beliefs that formed part of seventeenth-century medical practice. This substantial 603-page volume also incorporates The English Physician Enlarged and Key to Physic, together with traditional remedies, an extensive index and botanical illustrations.
Elegantly presented in a leather and cloth binding with raised spine bands and decorative tooling, this handsome vintage edition is particularly appealing to collectors of botanical books, medical history, herbals, natural history and fine vintage bindings. Its 1953 publication also makes it an interesting commemorative edition in its own right.
Published: 1953
Period: Mid-20th century
Category: Vintage & Collectible Books / Botany / Herbal Medicine / Medical History
Edition: 300th Anniversary Facsimile Edition
Pages: 603 + preliminary pages
Binding: Leather and cloth hardcover
Illustrated: Yes, including colour botanical plates
Condition: Vintage/Pre-owned; visible age-related wear and marking consistent with age. Please refer to photographs for condition.