Herbal Handbook: 50 Profiles in Words and Art from the Rare Book Collections of The New York Botanical Garden

by The New York Botanical Garden

Herbal Handbook is a charming, information-packed guide to 51 herbs and their uses illustrated with rare botanical art from the renowned archives of The New York Botanical Garden.

Did you know that woodruff was used as a room freshener in the Middle Ages; that crushed bergamot leaves can soothe bee stings; and that dried fenugreek seeds were found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen?

Herbs are magical, and their uses myriad. Inside Herbal Handbook are fifty-one herbs portrayed in words and rare botanical art curated by experts at The New York Botanical Garden. Some, like saffron, are treasured and rare; others, like purslane, grow by the roadside. They all have a place—in the garden, in the kitchen, in the bed or the bath. Use Herbal Handbook to explore their history, how to grow them, and how they were used in the past and present. Then bring them into your daily life; each herb’s profile offers a recipe or project that highlights its unique properties.

So cleanse your face with calendula when you wake up, sip a bergamot tea at breakfast, have a lovage tuna sandwich for lunch, and mix a caraway cocktail at the end of the day. Let Herbal Handbook delight your senses as they have done to others for thousands of years.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Nature, Plants, Cooking, Food, Tea

176 pages, Hardcover

Published February 22, 2022

Reviews

[abigail☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is stunning but the information was so bland and not even that informative

[de.shanejt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork was stunning, but unfortunately I didn't find this all that informative.

All the information provided for the herbs they introduced, was vague at best. Each herb had one, maybe two, recipes and they would simply add "and more"... I was hoping for more recipes on teas and balms but found only a couple.

I'll still keep this guide on hand to help identify plants or to decide which herbs to grow- but sadly I'll wind up needing additional resources.

[Dylan]

***
Starting a thing where I use the bibliocommons advanced search feature and a random number generator to pick a random book from my local library system (filtered to be a book that I can actually take out of the library & can actually read, i.e. in English).
***

First up is this actually really cool book of herbs with nice vintage art and recipes for meals, teas, sachets, etc. As someone living in a downtown apartment complex and with a vicious plant-eating-and-then-vomiting cat (whom I love, fwiw), the approximately 25% of this book dedicated to how much sun and soil these herbs require was not particularly useful, and therefore not particularly engaging. And overall, the writing is too bullet-pointy to be an enjoyable cover-to-cover experience. But that's not how it's meant to be read anyway, so I can't count that against it.

I have taken down a few of the recipes to try out, and found a local herb store that actually stocks stuff like meadowsweet and horehound, so I'll update here with how they turn out.

[Britt Laux · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute little book, with absolutely gorgeous formatting, and some sound info on accessible herbs. While this isn't a comprehensive guide, and there should probably be some notes on warnings or contraindications, it is a good starter guide or a pretty refresher for those who already have some experience with herbal medicine. I especially appreciate the recipes, which include easy to procure ingredients.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read and I learned about some really cool plants. But several of the font colors were really hard to see. Whoever decided to put light yellow print on a white background was clearly not considering accessibility. Also, found it a bit concerning that there is no bibliography/references listed at all. Hopefully all of this information is accurate, but who knows how much fact checking was actually done.

[emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very well made, but the illustrations are beautiful. Some of the recipes aren't actual recipes (one of them is just instructions for fairy dolls you can make out of flowers), some seem dubious (I'm not sure if the chamomile eye drops are safe to use), and most of the other recipes are for cocktails. However, some of the actual recipes sound interesting (like the one for lovage tuna salad).

[Morgan Lindey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good first introduction, and a quick over view for mostly edibal herbs. I think its interesting and a good way to start out in adding more herbs to your diet. However It didn't offer too much as far as tinsures, or teas, or anything besides food.
But straight forward and good!

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, starter herbal book. I bought this for the pictures alone- they are absolutely stunning! The info is very basic, but it's nice for those looking to just start getting into foraging and herbal education. 3 stars for the text 5 stars for the illustrations.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice beginners book and the pictures are gorgeous. I wouldn’t say the info was anything new and definitely not thorough, but easily approachable. Great for anyone who would be intimidated by something more in-depth.

[Gia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork and super educational. I liked how it gave the Latin and Victorian background on each flower and herb. It also has recipes and growth tips for each. Will enjoy keeping this book in my granola girl library for years to come.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the imagery and formatting and many of the recipes enlightened me on how to easily utilize herbs already growing in my own garden! However, not a ton of info on each entry leaving more to be desired. An adorable coffee table book.

[Heather Dangerfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy fun facts like:
Coriander was used in the original secret Coca-Cola recipe OR Meadowsweet tea was used to cure headaches, you will enjoy reading this book.

It is filled with fun recipes, teas, and tinctures so you can try out the herbs yourself!

[Sadie Patton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some interesting facts about herbs but I was disappointed that the recipes (which included the herbs) were mostly cocktails. I also wish it included a section about the nutritional or medicinal use of the herbs.

[Ellen Ulken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are some edible plants, beautifully illustrated and described, with recipes. The book is a visually colorful compilation and a joy to read.

[Pamela Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Regina Spiker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations with recipes for teas, tinctures, and balms.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The botanical illustrations are beautiful—the snippets of herbal folklore interesting.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference with botanical drawings, medicial and culinary uses of herbs and well as other lore.

[Chelli Dam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read with cool recipes. The art was also beautiful

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative! Can’t wait to try out the recipes.

[mossy maiden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations and introductory knowledge on herbs. I do think a lot of the information was vague and some of the recipes a bit far fetched. I did learn things I didn’t know prior though!

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and fun information. The yellow text was hard to read and there were some typos; this book could have used another round of editing.

[Anastasia Boog · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a birthday present given to me this year!
I enjoy flipping through it and reading the blurbs and scientific names. I also enjoy the illustrations.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

a helpful guide to keep on hand