Critical approaches to the history of Western herbal medicine: from classical antiquity to the early modern period

Abstract

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