Botanic medicine is a particular strength of the rare book collections at OSU. The evolution of botanical knowledge and the application to medicine is covered in a broad range of examples from the 16th to the 20th century, including highlights from scientific advancements in the field as well as the cultural and historical contexts in which these works were produced. These works can also be crucial to examining how knowledge of medicinal plants evolved over time and across different regions.

Keywords: Herbals, Materia medica, Medicinal plants, Medicine, Botanic, Botany, Medical, Botany - Early works to 1800, Therapeutic use, Pharmacy Patent medicines, Almanacs, Flora, Botan*

Herbals

During the 15th-17th centuries, herbals played a crucial role in documenting plant species and their medicinal uses. Our earliest herbal is a facsimile of a 15th century French manuscript Livres des simples medicines. Early herbals include French (1557) and English (1578) editions of Rembert Dodoens' History of plants and Girolamo Ruscelli's The secretes of the Reuerende Maister Alexis of Piedmont (1562). OSU holds the revised and expanded 1636 edition of Gerard’s famous herbal, which became a standard reference work for a century to come. Parkinson’s Theatrum botanicum describes about 1000 more plants than Gerard, and includes many species not previous recorded. William Salmon’s 1710 Botanologia is known as the last of the great European herbals, but new herbals would be produced still for centuries to come.

These 16th and 17th century herbals reflect the global exchange of botanical knowledge during this time, as colonists and explorers brought back newly discovered plant species from remote locations. The detailed woodcuts in these volumes not only served as essential visual reference, but also helped disseminate this information to new readers. Many of these OSU’s herbals include contemporary marginalia and annotations, giving a glimpse into how readers interacted with these books.

Indigenous Knowledge

Francisco Hernández interviewed native Mexican peoples about their uses and applications of plants, and recorded these in his Rerum medicarum Novae Hispaniae (1651). Humphrey Marshall wrote the first book on American trees, Arbustrum Americanum in 1785, and included “some hints of their uses in medicine” as reported by native Americans. The polymath and explorer Constantine Rafinesque also include native knowledge in his self-published Medical Flora, or Manual of the medical botany of the United States of North America. J. W. Cooper affiliated himself with indigenous knowledge in 140 with his The experienced botanist or Indian physician, but it is unknown whether he had direct contact with native practitioners. 

Home Health

In addition to scientific works, the 18th and 19th centuries saw the publication of popular medical guides that made herbal medicine accessible to the general public. By providing practical information on the preparation and use of herbal remedies, these guides empowered individuals to take charge of their own health using locally available plants.

Nicholas Culpeper's The English physician enlarged (1785) is a prime example of this trend. Culpeper's work includes descriptions of 369 medicines made from English herbs, highlighting the democratization of medical knowledge across classes. Other examples include Samuel Thomson’s New Guide to Health, or Botanic family physician (1832) and Thomsonian Botanic Watchman (1834); O. Phelps Brown’s The complete herbalist, or the people their own physicians (1867); and The Occult Family Physician and Botanic Guide to Health (1894). 

Some of these guides reflect American health movements of the time such as homeopathy. Examples of these guides in the collection fall off in the 20th century as modern western medicine formalizes; however, the same trend is picked up in the middle 20th century with titles from the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Library such as Using plants for healing: An American herbal (1963) and Be your own doctor: let living food be your medicine (1975).

Regional Flora

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the collection reflects a growing interest in regional flora and the integration of botanical medicine into broader medical practices.  This period saw an increased focus on the medicinal properties of plants native to specific regions, as well as the incorporation of botanical knowledge into mainstream medicine. Ernst T. Stuhr's works on medicinal plants of various U.S. regions (1928-1933) illustrate this trend. Stuhr's detailed descriptions of medicinal plants from regions such as Florida, Nebraska, and the Pacific Coast highlight the regional diversity of botanical medicine in the United States. Stuhr’s Manual of Pacific coast drug plants (1929) was a standard reference work for this area for decades.