Nicholas Culpeper

author

Nicholas Culpeper

1616–1654

Best known for bringing medical and herbal knowledge into plain English, this outspoken 17th-century healer became one of the most famous herbal writers in Britain. His books stayed popular for generations, especially The English Physitian and the work later known as Culpeper’s Complete Herbal.

1 Audiobook

The Complete Herbal To which is now added, upwards of one hundred additional herbs, with a display of their medicinal and occult qualities physically applied to the cure of all disorders incident to mankind: to which are now first annexed, the English physician enlarged, and key to Physic.

The Complete Herbal To which is now added, upwards of one hundred additional herbs, with a display of their medicinal and occult qualities physically applied to the cure of all disorders incident to mankind: to which are now first annexed, the English physician enlarged, and key to Physic.

by Nicholas Culpeper

About the author

Born in London on October 18, 1616, Nicholas Culpeper was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. He is remembered for writing about medicine in English rather than keeping it locked in Latin, which made practical health knowledge far more accessible to ordinary readers.

Culpeper’s most famous works include The English Physitian (1652), later associated with The Complete Herbal, and his translation of the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis. That choice put him at odds with the medical establishment, but it helped make him a lasting popular figure in the history of herbal medicine.

He died in London on January 10, 1654, at just 37 years old. Even with a short life, his name endured through centuries of reprints, and he is still widely linked with the tradition of plant-based healing and everyday medical self-help.