One of the many editions of this groundbreaking work which is a translation and reworking with many additions by Nicholas Culpeper of the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, originally published in 1649 with the title A Physical directory; or, a translation of the London Dispensatory, made by the College of Physicians in London, itself a translation of the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis of 1618 (Wellcome, II, p. 414).
Arguing that no man deserved to starve to pay an insulting, insolent physician and obtaining his herbal supplies from the nearby countryside, Culpeper could, as a pharmacist, provide his services free of charge. Using a combination of experience and astrology, he devoted himself to using herbs to treat his patients.
The English medical profession was shocked and angered when Culpeper published the English translation of the Latin pharmacopeia. This unauthorized translation outraged the College of Physicians, and they declared that Culpeper had infringed upon their rights. 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.
Title-page somewhat soiled, sl. browned throughout, a bit short cut at places.,binding repaired backcover loose). With the bookplate of the Library of the Medical Society of the County of Kings and Academy of Medicine of Brooklyn; the book is presented by Frank L. Babbott M.D., 4 Dec. 1941. Wing, 7535; Wellcome, II, p. 414; Heirs of Hippocrates, pp. 320-321.