HERB - gardens, etc. and 5 favorites

[Gaylin Walli]

Raisya wrote:

>I was hoping Jin Liu would speak up, he's helped me find a lot of materials,
>including my copy of Thomas Hill.  I was just trying to think of someone
>closer to Jasmine's (Detroit, Mi?) area.

Well, so far the Internet seems to be working pretty well, I'd say.
You guys are all great! So much information sharing. Yes, I'm in
the metro-Detroit area (Royal Oak, MI soon when we move in).

>This IS a lot of fun.  And it tells a lot about individual interests in
>herbs.  But I'd really hate to be limited to these, I love a lot of my other
>books too :).

I have a number of favs too, but like everyone else has mentioned, it's
tough to choose which ones I like the best. The list is really fluid, depending
on what I'm trying to accomplish. If I had to choose right now based
on the ointment/balm project on which I'm working I'd easily choose:

(1) Gerard's Herball as updated by Johnson. Despite Gerard's mistakes
and Johnson's additions, the book provides me with an excellent look
overall concerning the production and ingredients for my project. This
is the base document for most of the work on my project.

(2) Maude Grieve's herbal, especially the online version. This book is
often the "bridge" that helps me figure out which plant Gerard or other
authors are talking about. Grieve seems to preserve many of the old
names and references in addition to referencing the common names
we use today. And because of her excellent habit of saying "Gerard
says..." or "Dioscorides says" that makes it even easier to trace plants
between period and modern.

(3) Culpepper's herbal, again especially the online version. I choose
this book despite the fact that it is out of our period. Like Grieve's
work, it serves as an excellent bridge between period terms and modern
ones with respect to herbalism. I also like the last part of the work
that discusses creations and preparations like tinctures, poultices,
and balms, not simply because they are particularly good or bad, but
because it gives me an insight that I wouldn't have had based on the
period manuscripts alone.

(4) Gervase Markham's second book of Country Contentments, which
we usually refer to as The English Housewife. Markham was a noted
copyist. I appreciate his book because he puts the knowledge of herbs
and medicine in the context of a "common schmoe" like me. When
reading his choices of medicine, I get a better sense of what I think is
a view of what the late-period average person would have known and
used.

(5) The Oxford English dictionary.

Ask me again tomorrow, or after Kingdom A&S. I'll probably have a
different list. :)

Jasmine de Cordoba, Midrealm
jasmine at infoengine.com or gwalli at infoengine.com
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