Go away from this short expert talk with a refreshingly new appreciation of our invaluable plant medicine heritage, focusing on the written work of renowned and cherished William Turner (c.1508/9–1568), known as the ‘Father of English Botany’. A Northumbrian-born herbalist, physician, natural historian, theologian and reformer who wrote the first original scientific herbal written in English.
Herbals have been an integral part of European literature for over 2,000 years, several of them in Latin. These fascinating documents provide a window into the historical understanding of plants and their uses. The first English one to provide careful descriptions of plants and a record of their medical uses was compiled by the Northumbrian physician William Turner, who wrote a tri-part herbal between 1551 and1568. Looking at some extracts from his predecessors and then from his innovative masterwork shows how he differed from earlier books, what he did that was new, and what kind of information we can expect to find concerning both medication and natural history. In this 2 hour workshop, led by a Marie Addyman who is a recognised authority on William Turner’s medical and natural history writings, participants will delve into extracts from Turner’s ground-breaking work among others within collections from the physic garden and selected texts shared by Marie.
This is for you if:
- You’re curious about the history of herbal medicine and how plants were used in the past.
- You want to learn about William Turner and his important work with plants and medicine.
- You’re interested in discovering how old herbal books are different from modern ones.
This workshop is suitable for beginners as well as those further into plant medicine studies and discoveries.
Price: £25 for adults, £18 for students. Please use the booking form to reserve your place, and pay on arrival at the physic shop.
Format: Interactive lecture with Q&A – There will be a break half way through and time for questions at the end.
Tutor: Marie Addyman, B.A., B.Phil, D.Phil
Marie is an expert plant historian with years of experience in researching, collecting, writing, and teaching about historical plants and herbals, recognised internationally for her expertise on the medical and natural history writing of William Turner.
Parking: Workshop participants, please use our top-up car park, directions here
