Physick Garden
**Shortlisted for the V&A Illustration Awards 2024**
The intriguing tales of the plants that have been used to heal and cure our bodies, brought to life with beautifully surreal illustrations from Alice Smith.
Since the dawn of time, people have used plants as remedies, to both positive and deadly effect. These herbal treatments have become enshrined in folklore, in old wives' tales and in the curious names we have given local species. Many have also found their way into modern medicine cabinets – but not always in the form you would expect.
This book imagines a physick garden of healing plants that have been used across the globe by different generations. But were Italian Renaissance women dicing with death when they dropped belladonna in their eyes? Can comfrey really be used to heal broken bones? And can St John’s Wort scare away more than bad spirits?
Taking you around the body, from the brain to the bowels, The Physick Garden introduces 80 plants with curious medicinal pasts. With striking illustrations and lively tales, this book will show thatsometimes there is method in the madness.
Alice Smith is an artist, illustrator and designer based in Lancashire, UK. She is the art director for Idler magazine and is the co-founder of Bracketpress, which publishes work by an eclectic group of maverick writers and musicians. Her work has been exhibited at various venues in the UK, USA and in Europe, and regularly exhibits and sells her work at print fairs in the UK.