This is an interesting book detailing the ways that plants have been used for healing over the years. The illustrations are unique. Each plant has a page or two about how it was used, but there are not detailed instructions for people who want to DIY. The book was not available in kindle as an ARC so the version I had deleted itself before I could finish the book. Because of this, I won't be able to post a public review. What I read was interesting and informative.

The Physick Garden by Alice Smith is the ultimate guide for anyone interested in herbal remedies and healing.

Since the dawn of time, people have used plants as remedies, seeking to brew and bottle both the positive and deadly effects of Mother Nature. These herbal treatments have become enshrined in folklore, in old wives' tales, and in the curious names—The Physick Garden tells their stories.

From the brain to the bowels, The Physick Garden introduces readers to 80 plants with curious medicinal pasts that found their way into modern medicine cabinets. Striking illustrations and lively tales bring these plants to life on the page. Gardeners, witches, and healers will love this reference book.

Unlike other herbal compendiums, this volume focuses on the history of the plants, rather than their practical usage. WARNING: Always consult your doctor before taking herbal medicines.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of my great bucket list wishes is to create my own physick garden, so I was excited to dive into this book. It did not disappoint! The illustrations were gorgeous. Opposite each illustration, they summarize a specific plant (other common names, uses, history). Some might find them to be too brief to be very useful, but I think this book makes a fantastic starting off point for anyone interested in creating their own physick garden, or anyone just interested in plants and their many uses. This would definitely make a splendid gift, and gets two thumbs up from this reviewer!

**ARC Via NetGalley**

This is a lovely book describing the healing, and sometimes poisonous, properties of plants in a summarized and comprehensive way, while also weaving in some history and folkore surrounding the plants. It doesn’t go into much detail, but it is an informative book for beginners in botanics (such as myself). Another plus about this book is that it has some beautiful drawings of the plants in it!

Published 4/26/22
176 pages

The illustrations in this book are beautiful and fascinating. It's nice to see something different for illustrations on this subject. The book is well organized into categories that cover each area of the body and each description is concise and informative. It's fun to learn bits of historical information about different plants that are beneficial and have been used for thousands of years. Full of information from myth to practical facts about how to use the plants. I recommend this for anyone that is interested in learning more about this subject matter.

This book is led by the illustrations, rather than the text. They are beautifully done, although somewhat abstruse at times, particularly as they were attributed to the herbs and various parts of the body.

The herb profiles are good for beginners, or those gardeners hoping to be inspired to grow more, and various, medicinal herbs. There are no sources given for the information, but the information is accurate and well researched.

It’s good to see books published which cross some of the traditional boundaries, and where illustrations are so valued.

An entertaining peek into herbal remedies for head, chest, abdomen, pelvis and skeleton.
Every plant is listed with its common name, Latin name and alternative names. It is followed by a one-page description of historical use, dotted with anecdotal information and current research notes.
Furthermore, every plant is accompanied by a fabulous “steam-punky” collage showing not only the plant itself but the body part(s) it is used for.
There will be readers dashing out to forage and put this book into practice, so it would be useful to add warnings when a plant could be mixed up with a poisonous plant (e.g. khella and hemlock).
All in all, a very charming and captivating tome on herbalism.

This is a beautiful book that contains a lot of information in one place. It is less something that could be used to identify and look up the properties of particular plants, but as a compendium of plants it's a beautiful object and one I would use as a reference - I will likely pick up my own hard copy of this. The illustrations mix botanical and medical illustration in a way that I find very beautiful and that also conveys a lot about the plants themselves. I've seen copies of the book in a couple of local independent bookstores and it should do well.

This fabulous work of art allows us to dream when we walk in the forest, on plains, within nature's nest. The text is lovely, the illustrations gorgeous, original, striking, and telling. The authors remind us, from the very beginning of the book, that we should not use it as a health guide but peruse it as a book that is meant to intrigue, surprise, and delight. It deals with plants and their secular, worldwide use in curing people. These cures can be effective but they can also be preposterous and highly dangerous. The opus is meant to have us wonder, to have us learn about the past. It is an ode to nature and to is benefits to us (while being aware of the dangers involved). Thank you for this lovely work!

Excellent read with beautiful illustrations! The only thing missing is illustrations of just the plants. Definitely a book to pick up for reference purposes.

Thank you for the ARC from NetGallery and the publisher.

But this is not what I expected this book to be. 🤣🤣 telling me assuming a book in the gardening section would be about gardening.
It is to some extent but I wasn’t expecting the images of you. Awesome as they are and as a horror fan love. My mom not so much🤣 sorry mom. Anyhow interesting wacky read and great Art

I absolutely adore the illustrations! They are so beautiful. Very short descriptions but it’s a great overview of the topic! I really enjoyed the descriptions of the histories of the plants alongside their uses.

While I found this book on herbology extremely interesting, the explanations were not detailed enough for my taste - I would have preferred the texts to be at least twice as extensive, to be frank. I especially loved the bits on name provenience and terminology, which I enjoyed translating into my native languages out of curiosity, where the origins of plants' names often coincided. The illustrations, which were the reason I chose to read this beautiful manual, are a bit of a disappointment, since at closer inspection they all seem to be, at least in part, only collages of perhaps pre-existing pieces? I'm not sure.

Time to establish a goodreads shelf for medical content, I think.