HERB - Re: Caitlyn's place to start learning

Tue Jun 8 12:52:32 PDT 1999

Here is the list I promised to send. Mistress Christianna first
compiled it all from our discussions online. If you need more
information about any of these sources, do ask on the list and
someone will happily speak up. We'll probably be updating the
list again at least twice more this year, once after Pennsic
and once again after the major end-of-year holidays.

     Iasmin (Jasmine) de Cordoba

Last updated 06-1999.

------- The Ultimate SCA Herb Reference List --------------

As promised, this is the sources article I am sending to our Baronial
newsletter, which is a condensation of our discussion here.  I thought
there might be some interest in having it all in one (long) message.
	Christianna

Herbal Book Sources
These come from members of the Herbal List, (subscription info to
follow), and cover the top books most of the folks on that list consider
to be their favorites.  They appear in no particular order here.  There
is also a listing of websites of interest at the end.

"THE ARTE OF GARDENING", Hill, Thomas, 1978, Norwood:Walter Johnson, Inc.
      This was first published in about 1580, I think.  It covers topics
like siting a garden, access to water, the quality of the soil, dunging,
fencing, laying out the garden, and so on.  This is a wonderful source of
techniques.
     A better book for information on preparing plant beds in a period manner
is Thomas Hill's "The Arte of Gardening" which in first part goes over
general garden design, handling insect problems, soil preparation, etc
and then in the plant section gives specific information on the growing
of each plant.  It also has attached manuscripts on production of honey,
and grafting of trees, etc.

"FIVE HUNDRED POINTS OF GOOD HUSBANDRY",  Tusser, Thomas, (1580) 1984,
Oxford:  Oxford University Press - This is all done in rhyme, and is
something of a calender of a farmer's year.

"THE COMPLETE BOOK OF HERBS", Bremness, Lesley - This is my modern
favorite, I tend to reach for it over any other herb book because I like
the
way the growing information is organized.

"TACUINUM SANITATIS" - the Facts on File edition (Four Seasons of the
House of Cerutti)
also available as "The Medieval Health Handbook" Introduction by Luisa
Cogliati Arano, New York, 1976, ISBN 0-8076-0808-4

"HERBAL TREASURES "- Phyllis V. Shaudys - This one's strictly for fun,
but I tend to use it as a modern reference for period recipes too.

"THE COUNTRYSIDE OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND", Astill, Grenville and Grant,
Annie, 1988, Oxford:  Blackwell Publishers ---- This is a collection of
material from specialists, a very scholarly book with lots of tables and
charts.

"THE MEDIEVAL GARDEN", Landsberg, Sylvia, (can't find the date) New York:
 Thames and Hudson --- An excellent starting point, it emphasizes English
gardens.

"HORTULUS", Strabo, Walahfrid, translated by Raef Payne, 1966,
Pittsburgh:  The Hunt Botanical Library - 9th century gardening, it
covers preparing the ground.

"A MEDIEVAL HOME COMPANION", Bayard, Tania, 1991, New York:
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. - A translation of excerts of a 14th
century French manuscript, it includes a chapter on gardening.

"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.

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.  (http://www.botanical.com)

"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.

"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.

The "Oxford English Dictionary".

"The Herb Book" by John Lust.   An older book yes, but very handy to
answer those "How do I..." questions.  Altho without photographs, the
listing of herbs is very large and the bibliography/reference section is
a great pointer to other works.

"Growing and Using the Healing Herbs" by Gaea and Shandor Weiss. Rodale
Press, copyrite 1985. Line drawings, sections on historical gardens,
European, American and Chinese herbals, and recipies, harvesting info,
and appendixes on types of preparations.  My all-time most requested
herbal preparation comes from this book, for a Stinging Insect Bite
Lotion.

"Simon and Schuster's Complete Guide to Plants and Flowers"  (my copy is
from 1975, and still in great shape).  Full color photos, planting,
growing, propagation, etc. info in an easy graph format.  A very handy,
not-quite-pocket-sized field guide.

"Chinese Herbal Remedies" by Albert Y Leung.  Universe Books, NY.1984.
Mine is a photocopy, but handy and indexed for info on many Chinese herbs
and practices.

"The Herbal Book For The Dog" by Juliette de Bairacli-Levy. Van Reese
Press, NY, 1961.  I have used this one many times.  It is set up as a
breeder's book, and addresses problems in sections for Natural Puppy
Rearing, The Uses of Herbs in Canine Ailments, and General Herbal
Observations.

"Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats" by
Richard H. Pitcairn, D.V.M., Ph.D. & Susan Hubble Picairn. Rodale Press,
1995.  My newest book in my veteranary collection, and very useful.  He
discusses many common ailments, treatments, surgery and nutrition.  He
has a graph of common pet food ingredients and their protein value vs.
cost per calorie.

"From Earth to Herbalist - an earth concious guide to medicinal
plants"  by Gregory L. Tilford.  ISBN 0-87842-372-9.  Published 1998 by
Mountain Press Publishing Company P.O. Box 2399 Missoula, Montana 59806.
(406) 728-1900.  It was $21.00 and is 249 pages with color picture of a
plant about every other page.

"The Master Book of Herbalism" by Paul Beyerl.  Herbalism with a serious
look at things from a 'magickal' point of view.

"The Natural Formula Book for Home and Yard", edited by Dan Wallace.
Over 400 formulas for natural products to replace those bought daily.
Covers everything from cosmetics, hygiene aids to auto, workshop and
garden products.  Maybe not truely an herb book, but herbs and their
products are used in numberous of the formulas.

"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils:The complete Guide to the
Use of Oils in Aromatherapy and Herbalism", by Julia Lawless.  Covers
 everything from what the heck IS an essential oil, how to get them out
of that darn plant (modern methods and historical ones), and what to do
with it once you've got it.  Well illustrated with both drawings and
photos of the living plant, usually also with a photo of pieces of the
plant, dried and fresh.  This reference gives scientific names, family
names, synonyms, safety data, herbal/folk traditional information,
aromatherapy/home use, other uses and an idea of just what the heck is IN
that oil that is doing the work.

"500 Formulas for Aromatherapy: Mixing Essential oils for Everyday Use",
by Carol and David Schiller.

"Indian Herbalogy of North America: The definitive Guide to Native
 Medicinal Plants and Their Uses" by Alma Hutchens.   Line drawings, not
 photos...but this book focuses on plants that are native here..not in
europe.
     Not so much a "how to" book, this one doesn't go as in depth as many,
but it gives the Native American uses for the plant, medicinal parts,
solvents, body nfluence, and interestingly enough...Russian experiences
with the plant.

Web Sites of Interest to Herbalists:

Herbals and Early Garden Manuals Web site:
http://www.goldcanyon.com/Patten/index.html

A History of Herbs, Oils, and Aromas Web Site:
http://www.eliki.com/ancient/beliefs/herbs/

The Woad Page:
http://www.net-link.net/~rowan/woad.html

Culpepper's Herbal Online - Yale Medical Library: Nicholas Culpepper,
Physician Web Site:
http://www.med.yale.edu/library/historical/culpeper/culpeper.htm

Gardening Timeline, From Ancient History to 1900:
http://www.gardendigest.com/timegl.htm

Time-Life Gardener's Encyclopedia Web site: http://www.vg.com/

The Herb Research Foundation (http://www.herbs.org) a comprehensive site for
herb information, featuring the latest science, political, business and
international news from the world of herbs.

American Botanical Garden (http://www.herbalgram.org/) book reviews,
bookstore on
site, publisher of HerbalGram a quarterly herb journal coproduced with
Herb Research Foundation.

Herbal Hall (http://www.herb.com/herbal.com) site contains lists of schools,
herbalists, online herbal information.  Features Michael Moore's
Herbal-Medical Dictionary, reached directly at
http://www.crl.com/~robbee/dict.html

Health World (http://www.healthworld.com) part of an ambitious health internet
site with a wide range of information, including some links to herb
information sources.

Michael Moore's HomePage (http://www.rt66.com/hrbmoore/HOMEPAGE/HomePage.html)
featuring an excellant collection of medicinal plant images, site is
managed by the Director of the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.

Algy's Home Page-Medicinal (http://www.algy.com/herb)  very comprehensive
collection of herb information.

American Herbalists Guild (http://www.healthy.com/herbalists)  the official
website of the Guild, which represents traditional herbalists in the US.

Henriette's Herbal Homepage (http://sunsite.unc.edu/herbmed)  this site is from
the webmaster of the sunsite herbal collection at the U. of North
Carolina. Includes a very rich collection of links to other sites.

Phytonet (http://www.exeter/ac.uk.phytonet)  the home of the European
Scientific
Cooperative On Phytomedicine (ESCOP) provides a form (in 5 languages) for
reporting adverse reactions to herbal products.

Phytopharmacognosy (http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/pharm) professional herb
information including the mailing list by the same name, which carries on
a rather overwhelming discussion of various botanical topics.

HerbNet Information Center (http://www.herbnet.com/)  the home page of the Herb
Growing and Marketing Network.  A bit slow to load but a nice looking
site.

USDA: Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
(http://www.ars-grin.gov/~ngrslb/) this site contains Dr. James Duke's
searchable
databases.  You can search by plant, chemical, activity or ethnobotany.

There is a really good chart on German medieval and renaissance spices,
taken from 7 books ranging from 1350-1581, at:
http://www.silk.net/sirene/medgerm.htm

In reference to the previous conversation on perfumery, I've stumbled
across this 1881 source ... The Household Cyclopedia. The chapter on
perfumery is at:   http://members.xoom.com/mspong/perfumery.html

The Household Cyclopedia of General Information
http://members.xoom.com/mspong/
This 1881 reference book was designed to help nineteenth-century
households stay healthy and productive.
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