The Old English Herbals

This work opens a window onto the forgotten world of medieval English herbals, the texts that guided healers and gardeners centuries ago. The author brings together fragile 12th‑century manuscripts, translating unusual characters—from yogh to astrological symbols—so listeners can hear how Latin, Greek and Anglo‑Saxon once coexisted on a page. A note of gratitude to scholars and librarians highlights the collaborative effort needed to revive these rare sources.

The book surveys the Saxon translation of the Herbarium of Apuleius, complemented by reproduced woodcuts of plants such as mandrake, lilie and artemisia. Commentary explains how these herbs were dug up, processed and prescribed under the watchful eye of a sage, while bibliographic notes expose the scarcity of early printed herbals like Banckes’s Herbal and the Grete Herball. Listeners receive both scholarly insight and vivid description, enough to imagine the scent of a medieval garden and the careful hands that recorded its secrets.