[N.B.: This blog and related comments were originally posted on the site 'Herbal Matters']
There's something so fresh about these images which date back to some time around the 14th century. They don't have the dullness of a modern photo, nor the time-bleached dustiness of most historical herbal manuscripts. And is it just me, or do they contain a brilliant sense of humour and gaiety too?
They come from the Tacuinum Sanitatis, a medieval "handbook of wellness" based on an 11th century medical treatise by Ibn Butlan. It seems the high volume of illustrations was one if its main selling points, but I think the descriptions that go with them are also something to behold so I'm sorry not to be able to include more of them with the images.
Here are a few of my favourites, but the Tacuinum Sanitatis Gallery contains many more.
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Sugar (Saccharum sp.) Nature: Warm in the first degree, humid in the second. Optimum: The white, clear kind. Usefulness: It purifies the body, is good for the chest, the kidneys,and the bladder. Dangers: It causes thirst and moves bilious humors. Neutralisation of the Dangers: With sour pomegranates. Effects: Produces blood that is not bad. It is good for all temperaments, at all ages, in every season and region. |
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Woolen Clothing (Vestis lanea) Nature: Warm and dry. Optimum: The thin kind from Flanders. Usefulness: It protects the body from cold and holds warmth. Dangers: It causes skin irritation. Neutralisation of the Dangers: With thin linen clothing. |
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| The Fruit of the Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum)
Nature: Cold in the third degree, dry in the second. Optimum: The highly fragrant variety. Usefulness: Smelling it helps alleviate headaches and insomnia; spreading it on the skin works against elephantiasis and black infections. Dangers: It stupefies the senses. Neutralisation of the Dangers: With the fruits of ivy. Effects: It is not comestible. It is good for warm temperaments, for the young, in Summer, and in the Southern regions. |
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