Samuel Stearns, The American Herbal, or Materia Medica

STEARNS, Samuel. The American Herbal, or Material Medica. Wherein the Virtues of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Productions of North and South America are Laid Open, So Far As They Are Known; And Their Uses in the Practice of Physic and Surgery Exhibited. Walpole: Printed by David Carlisle, for Thomas & Thomas, and the Author, 1801. 360pp. 12mo. A very rare early American work of medical botany. Stearns (1747-1819) was an important early American botanist, physician and astronomer. He practiced medicine first in Worcester, then in New York and finally in Brattleboro, Vermont. He published the first American nautical almanac in 1782 and was editor of the Philadelphia Magazine. For his loyalty to George III during the Revolution Stearns suffered nearly three years of imprisonment at Worcester and persistent attacks by the Sons of Liberty apparently drove him out of town. Norman describes the present work as the "first herbal both produced and printed in the United States." Stearns also includes information on American Indian remedies. Austin's Medical Imprints locates fourteen copies of this rarity.