1886 – Magic Plants – Heucher | Mystical Occult Medicine, Supernatural Mandrake

Magic plants, or De Vegetalibus Magicis, is a fascinating early 18^th-century pseudo-medicine treatise written to catalogue plants that were considered to be magical or have mystical properties. Heucher, a physician and botanist, examined Mandrake, Henbane, and Belladonna within the context of folklore and learned medicine. He attempts to debunk many of the myths associated with these plants and seeks to provide appropriate botanical and medicinal answers for the actual properties of “mystical” plants.

This 1886 English edition was published in Edinburgh, translated and edited by Edmund Goldsmid.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Magic plants : being a translation of a curious tract entitled De vegetalibus magicis
• Author(s): Johann Heinrich Heucher
• Contributor(s): Edmund Goldsmid (Translator)
• Publisher: Edinburgh: privately printed
• Edition: 1886 printing.
• Binding: Paper binding; marbled slipcase
• Format: (16mo), single volume
• Size:  7 in x 4.25 in (18 cm x 11 cm)
• Collation: 39 pp
• Contents Include:
  • Translation of De vegetalibus magicis
  • Mandrake, Henbane, Belladonna
  • Historical plant lore

Condition:

Very Good. Original paper binding without boards, secure and intact with marbled slipcase present. Pages are clean and free of tearing, with mild age toning. Text block complete.

Why Collect This?

• Focus on Mandrake, Henbane, Belladonna
• English translation of a famous occult medicine study

Item Number: #50145