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Healing words

Chamomile illustration from Blackwell's Herbal

Healing words

The unofficial story of medical practice in England 1500–1800


Recipe books were highly collaborative, incredibly detailed, and painstakingly handwritten household manuals. Produced mainly within rural communities, they contained recipes for preparing and preserving food, household products, and medical remedies.

These books have become a testament to women’s experiences across all levels of society, showing their skills at household management. They also demonstrate a wide context of legitimate but unofficial medical information sharing. 

The books show us how medicine was understood and practiced at community level. They are glimpses into a world in which communities were self-sufficient, and people were intimately connected to one another, the land, the seasons and the cosmos. These books contributed to the very survival of families and communities.

This exhibition is the culmination of a long term project to provide online access to these unique manuscripts and highlight their part in the story of the development of modern medicine. 

Please be aware, this exhibition contains descriptions of cruelty to animals, and medical procedures on children.

Healing words exhibition

11 September 2024 – 25 July 2025

Royal College of Physicians, London – plan your visit

Upcoming events

2024 exhibition events

Museum Late: Healing words | Thursday 3 October 2024 - Book now

Minibeast Medicine: children’s workshop | Tuesday 29 October 2024 - Book now

Museum Late: Healing words | Wednesday 6 November 2024 - Book now

Healing words: Autumn lectures:  | Tuesday 19 November 2024 - Book now

Museum Late: Healing words | Thursday 5 December 2024

Teas from the Garden | Thursday 12 December 2024

Further resources

The plant images which illustrate the online version of this exhibition are from A curious herbal by Elizabeth Blackwell (c.1700–1758). She was a skilled and resourceful botanist, illustrator and entrepreneur. Between 1737–1739 she published a two-volume work containing 500 medicinal plants which she personally illustrated, engraved and hand painted.

This curious’ (meaning accurate and precise) herbal was endorsed by the RCP, showing it contained formally accepted medical knowledge. It was a significant contribution from a woman to the wider understanding of medicinal ingredients and their domestic use.

Digitized copies of all our recipe books are now available online via the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/rcplondonmanuscripts

Online exhibition

Can't make it to the exhibition? explore the online version: