Paracelsus, His Herbarius, and the Relevance of Medicinal Herbs in His Medical Thought

Abstract

Abstract This article aims at reassessing the significance of Paracelsus’ Herbarius, a work deemed a loose collection of field notes and juvenilia by Karl Sudhoff, Paracelsus’ most famous editor and scholar. By comparing it to Von den natürlichen Dingen, another treatise that overlaps extensively with the Herbarius (four of the six Gewechse discussed in the Herbarius are also dealt with in Von den natürlichen Dingen), the article suggests that both texts, although unfinished, must be read as well-crafted treatises rather than mere drafts. It also examines two hypotheses concerning the relationship between the two treatises: the Herbarius will alternatively be read as a simplified version of Von den natürlichen Dingen, written concomitantly in order to be understandable by the “common man” (gemeine Mann); and as its preliminary version, further elaborated upon by Paracelsus several years after he wrote the Herbarius. By tracing the early reception of the Herbarius, the article attempts to understand its relationship to the several writings that were deemed by the followers of Paracelsus to be part of a supposedly larger Paracelsian herbal centered on the doctrine of signatures: to them, the Herbarius was undoubtedly a mere excerpt of Paracelsus’ Herbarius spiritualis sidereus, a concept investigated here.