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Oriental medicine is not the only type of medicine that seeks natural remedies other than chemicals. In fact, plant-based health practices have a long tradition in Western medicine, as evidenced by the beautifully illustrated books in the British Library’s collection. Cotton MS Vitellius C III is a 1,000-year-old illustrated manual of plant pharmacology, now digitized for online viewing.
This beautifully illustrated 11th-century book contains natural, plant-based remedies for everything from body odor (stewing artichokes in wine) to chest pain relief (licorice root helps). ” is full. It’s amazing to zoom in on high-resolution scans to see Old English scripts and detailed drawings of plants and animals used for healing properties.
Herbs were very common in Anglo-Saxon medicine, but the British Library manuscript is the only extant illustrated Old English manual. “No one knows exactly how this manuscript was used, or even where or by whom it was created,” says project curator Alison Hudson. “Due to its decoration and style of writing, its production has been associated with manuscripts from the monasteries of Canterbury and Winchester, but this is by no means certain. The monasteries in those areas were also known as centers of natural and supernatural healing. It served as a library and center of learning.”
Each entry in the manual lists the “name of a plant or animal in different languages. A description of the disease that can be used to treat it. And instructions for finding and preparing it.” How practical is this guide really? Although it is debatable whether it was intended to be used as a reference or not, and it includes plants such as cumin that would not have been available in England, it is an interesting work of art in its own right.
If you have trouble understanding the Old English meaning, a 2002 translation is available for sale.
Time/hours: [Open Culture]
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