The Art of Simpling

The Art of Simpling was first published in 1656 -- more than twenty years after Thomas Johnson's corrected and amended edition of Gerard's herbal and twelve or so years after John Parkinson's monumental Theatrum Botanicum. It followed Nicholas Culpepper's well-known classic by just four years and came out the same year as the final edition of Parkinson's Paradisi, which added a fourth section on herbs and other useful plants for the kitchen garden. And yet, already Coles laments the waning regard for and knowledge of herbs, looking back a hundred years to the days of Mattioli when the art of simpling was well rewarded by the likes of royalty.

Rather than attempting a comprehensive listing of plants, The Art of Simpling is organized by application for practical use. In addition to information on the use of herbs, it includes chapters on plant anatomy, cultivation and harvesting, and the doctrine of signatures. Coles also rails against the belief in the influence of the heavens on plants -- and muses on the pleasures and practical benefits of gardens.

Popular in its time, The Art of Simpling may be the least known of the early English herbals today. Some of the content now seems quaint -- or even superstitious -- but look past the sometimes outdated or unsubstantiated and it contains a wealth of herbal lore and provides a fascinating insight into the customs, and religious and political life, of 17th century England.