Wandering Through Collected Curiosities
There are some books that are read from beginning to end. Others are wandered through.Collected Curiosities More Stories and Recipes from the Historical Apothecary Cabinet belongs firmly in the second category.
The moment I opened Amanda Edmiston’s latest book, I found myself lingering over the pages long before I began reading. Botanical illustrations spill across the margins. Clematis winds through the chapters. Berries, flowers, herbs, and old apothecary treasures peek from the corners of the page. It feels less like opening a modern book and more like discovering a well-loved cabinet of curiosities tucked away in the corner of an old herbalist’s study.
As the title suggests, this is a collection of stories and recipes gathered from the world of The Time Traveller’s Herbal. Yet rather than feeling like an appendix to a previous work, the book stands comfortably on its own.
Amanda has a gift for weaving together folklore, history, herbal medicine, and storytelling in a way that feels both accessible and deeply rooted. One moment we are exploring the traditions of travellers, healers, midwives, and herbal practitioners. The next we find ourselves following threads of local history, old remedies, forgotten customs, and the lives of people whose stories might otherwise have been lost.
Throughout the book there is a deep sense of place. The landscapes, villages, kitchens, herb gardens, and wild corners of Britain feel alive beneath the page. This is not history presented as a distant academic subject. It is history inhabited by real people. Women making cough syrups. Travellers carrying stories. Families passing remedies from one generation to the next.
One of the aspects I enjoyed most was the way folklore and practical herbal knowledge sit comfortably beside one another. A recipe for garlic cough syrup might be followed by a tale of vampires. Historical research sits alongside family memories. Myth and medicine are allowed to share the same table.
Many herbalists continue to honour these connections today, recognising that plants carry stories as well as actions. Yet modern life can sometimes encourage us to place folklore, history, and medicine into separate boxes. Collected Curiosities gently reminds us that for much of history they were never truly separate.
People gathered plants not only because they were medicinal, but because they carried stories, meanings, traditions, and relationships. Collected Curiosities captures something of that older way of seeing.
I would be remiss not to mention the book’s design. Published by Verbena Books, Collected Curiosities is every bit as beautiful as its contents. Botanical illustrations weave through the margins, flowers spill across chapter openings, and each page feels thoughtfully crafted.
In an age when so much is consumed quickly, there is something rather special about a book that invites you to slow down. Verbena’s books consistently do this well. They are books to read, certainly, but also books to savour; the sort that find a permanent place on a shelf and are returned to again and again.
The illustrations and page design create an immersive reading experience that encourages frequent pauses. More than once I found myself turning back a page simply to admire the artwork before continuing on with the story.
What stayed with me most, however, was the warmth that runs throughout the book. Beneath the folklore, historical detail, recipes, and plant lore lies something deeply human. These are stories about people and the ways knowledge is carried across generations. Through memory, conversation, family traditions, and the sharing of remedies, we catch glimpses of lives that might otherwise have been forgotten.
For those interested in herbal folklore, traditional remedies, folk customs, historical storytelling, or the rich relationship between plants and people, Collected Curiosities offers a thoroughly enjoyable journey. It is equally suited to curling up with on a winter evening or dipping into for a few minutes with a cup of tea.
In a world that often asks us to move quickly, Collected Curiosities invites us to linger. To follow winding paths. To gather stories.
And to remember that sometimes the most interesting discoveries are found not in grand histories, but in the small fragments of memory, folklore, and tradition that have quietly survived the passage of time.
One of the things I appreciate most about Amanda’s work is that it extends beyond the pages of her books. Through Botanica Fabula, she creates spaces where folklore, plants, history, and storytelling can be explored in greater depth.
I am currently working my way through The Forest Path and finding it every bit as thoughtful, immersive, and inspiring as her writing.
If Collected Curiosities leaves you wanting to wander further down the woodland path, you can discover Amanda’s books and courses here.
