Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 505

NICHOLAS CULPEPER (1616-1654) Pharmacopoeia Londinensis; or, The London dispensatory. Printed by J. Streater, and are to be sold by G. Sawbridge 1669 [23] 305 [35] pp. 16.9 cm.

Culpeper, son of an English clergyman, studied at Cambridge and acquired an extensive medical background by reading and serving apprenticeships under two different apothecaries. He began active practice in 1640 as a physician-astrologer--a practice not unusual for doctors of his day. He soon achieved great fame and developed quite a large practice. Although in essence Culpeper was a quack without sound scientific training, he was aware that science must be based upon study and careful observation. It was in this spirit that he translated many notable scientific works including such authors as Galen, Sennert, Rivière, Riolan, Vesling, and Glisson. The English medical profession was shocked and angered in 1649 when Culpeper published an English translation of the Latin pharmacopoeia. This unauthorized translation outraged the College of Physicians, and they declared that Culpeper had infringed upon their rights because they held a monopoly on the official dispensatory. The fact that all their secret remedies were now easily read in the vernacular was a matter of great concern, and Culpeper was subjected to many bitter attacks by the medical profession. Nevertheless his pharmacopoeia became quite popular and its use was widespread.

Cited references: Wellcome II, p. 414

Gift of the Donald Hunt family