What happens when three of the world’s most renowned herbal medicine experts combine their rare botanical book collections and make them available to the public, free of charge? The World Herb Library, that’s what!
A vast archive of over 3,000 volumes, some dating back to the 1500s, and covering everything from plant pharmacology to cultivation and extraction methods, the Library offers a wealth of historical knowledge about medicinal and culinary herbs, lovingly curated by three people who’ve dedicated their lives to the study and practice of botanical medicine.
This project came to life through the efforts of 4th generation herbalist Christopher Hobbs, PhD, LAc, phytopharmaceutical consultant Robert Brucia, and HerbPharm founder Ed Smith. The three men, all widely recognized experts in the field, realized that public interest in herbs is at an all-time high these days, and they wished to share their rare books, along with their own knowledge and insight, with as many people as possible. In aggregate, the World Herb Library is the largest online assembly of English-language herbal texts.
All books in this archive can be displayed as keyword searchable PDF files, which include the original book covers and illustrations, many of which are quite beautiful. The texts are presented exactly as they were published, without any editing or “modernization.” Though the collection is weighted toward European and North American botanical medicine, it does include extensive subsets of references on Ayurveda, and Native American medicine, many of them quite rare, along with some volumes on Near Eastern medicine.
The World Herb Library abounds with intriguing curiosities, some of which go way, way back in history. There’s Das Buch der Natur, one of the earliest attempts at a natural history encyclopedia, authored by Bavarian scholar Konrad von Megenberg in the mid-14th century. This book is one of the first significant scientific works written in the German language.
There’s The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes, compiled by English herbalist John Gerarde, and first published in 1597 (the version on display is from 1636). Gerarde maintained a large botanical garden in Holburn, and his book was a widely popular gardening guide in its day, with an extensive section on plants used for medicine, food, and fragrance.
The Hortus Cliffortianus is a 1737 work written by Carl Linnaeus—who invented the system of binomial Latin taxonomy still in use today–with illustrations by Georg Dionysius Ehret. This weighty volume was commissioned by Amsterdam banker George Clifford III, whose extensive garden at Hartekamp, Netherlands, was among the biggest and most diverse in Europe at that time.
For literature lovers, there’s Shakespeare’s Wild Flowers, a 1935 collection by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, that gives in-depth explanations—including lovely color illustrations—of the plants Shakespeare mentioned in his vast works.
“A Hundred and Fouretene Experiments and Cures” is a major work by the renowned Swiss physician/alchemist Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus. It was first translated into English by John Hester, a practitioner of spagyric medicine, who published it in London in 1596. The text presents 114 case studies detailing Paracelsus’s methods for treating a range of common disorders. It is an invaluable chronicle of Renaissance-era medical practices, when ancient healing traditions were confronted by the rapidly emerging scientific method.
If you’ve ever wondered what American medicine was like in the Civil War era, look no further than Fair Examination and Criticism of all the Medical Systems in Vogue. This 1866 review of the various schools and systems of American medicine in the mid-19th Century, was penned by Alva Curtis, AM, MD, and published by the Cincinnati Literary and Scientific Institute. Written roughly a half-century before the infamous Flexner Report, which defined the standards of “modern” pharma-based medicine, Curtis’ book reveals the plurality of healing systems that flourished in the US at that time.
Though focused primarily on plants and plant-based medicine, the World Herb Library is really a chronicle of the vast sweep of medical history, ranging from some of humanity’s oldest medical practices to current questions about methods for quality assurance and safety.
User friendly, broad-minded, and well-curated, this vital resource goes beyond just books. There’s a series of audio profiles of outstanding women in herbal history, a section of programs for kids, a brief but pithy history of herbalism, and a built-in link to the PubMed home page for those seeking to validate references or augment their knowledge of particular subjects.
Already vast, the World Herb Library is an ongoing project that will no doubt expand in the years to come. For viewers desiring a guided tour, of sorts, the curators have compiled an “Essential 100” listing of books they deem especially important and influential.
Kudos to Christopher Hobbs, Robert Brucia, Ed Smith and the other herbal experts who’ve put so much love, heart, and knowledge into this library.
Access to the World Herb Library is totally free. If you wish to support the project financially, visit: https://worldherblibrary.org/donation/
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