Herbal

Herbal, a book dealing with plants especially from the point of view of their medicinal properties. Such books were formerly numerous, but have ceased to be of much medical value. Among the more important herbals are the Hortus Sanitdtis (1486), The Grete Herbal (1516), A Little Herbal, by Anthonye Ascham (1550), those of Brunsfelsius, Cordus, Ruellius, Fuchsius, Gesner (q.v.), William Turner (q.v.) (1551-66), Dodoens (1553), translated into French by Clusius (1557) and into English by Henry Lyte (1578), John Gerard (q.v.) (1597), emended by Thomas Johnson (1633), Nicholas Culpepper, largely astrological and since often reprinted (1652), The English Herbal, by William Salmon (1711), and A Curious Herbal, by Mrs. Elizabeth Blackwell (1739).