About Us

The Founders and Their Quest for Knowledge

The World Herb Library was founded by three practicing herbalists with decades of experience and a passion for books, who built their collections over the last fifty years by combing dusty bookshops around the United States, Europe, and Asia, and finally from online catalogues.

Robert Brucia

In 1975 I began what would turn out to be one of our largest wholesale botanical extraction companies. Producing botanical extracts for many of our industry’s well known companies.  At that time I also began collecting 19th century dispensatories, formularies and pharmacopoeias in order to continue my study of early Pharmacy and Herbalism. These early formularies and dispensatories were filled with the herbal formulas from Pharmaceutical companies that were producing botanical remedies at that time, companies like Merck and Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, Inc.
 
After a few years of collecting this type of material and having shelves full of dispensatories, formularies, books on materia medica, Eclectic medical texts and journals, I came across a copy of Woodville’s Medical Botany. I hadn’t known or seen a botanical book so beautiful, over 300 hand-colored plates of medicinal plants. For over 30 years my search for herbals and rare botanical texts never stopped.
 
The years were spent in dusty bookshops with bad lighting, searching book dealer’s catalogs, visiting the book fairs in London, LA, and San Francisco, and trying to outbid other collectors at fancy auction houses. My library, Brucia Botanical Library,  ended up with so many treasures. Rare herbals like the 1529 Grete Herball, the 1565 Mattioli’s materia medica and the very rare first published illustrated herbal text, Apuleius Barbarus’s “Herbarium Apulei” (c. 1481). These, along with many other botanical works, will be shared with you in the World Herb Library.  Many of the great botanists and herbalists along with their herbals are represented here—Fuchs, Brunfels, l’Obel, Dodoens, Turner, Parkinson and Gerarde—plus numerous works of medical botany, ethnobotany, floras and plant folklore.
 
The World Herb Library has brought together books from so many of the great botanical libraries of the last one hundred years. Many of these books are simply no longer available. Having books from the Brucia botanical library along with the Dr. Christopher Hobbs botanical collection available on the World Herb Library for you to read and enjoy is truly an honor.  The World Herb Library documents the entire history of herbal practice of many millions of people through the ages.
 

~ Bob Brucia, Manufacturing Herbalist, PhytoPharmaceutical consultant 

“I’ve always been a collector and after starting my botanical extraction company in 1975 I began collecting 19th century dispensatories, formularies and pharmacopoeias in order to study pharmacy and find formulas for making the herbal product that I sold. This was a fun time, searching old book stores and finding some of the rarest items.

After a few years of collecting this type of material and having shelves full of dispensatories, formularies, books on materia medica (medical uses of herbs), Eclectic medical text and journals, I came across a copy of Woodville’s Medical Botany. I hadn’t known or seen a botanical book so beautiful, over 300 hand-colored plates of medicinal plants. That must have been when the bibliomania virus hit me so hard. My search for colored-plate botanicals and hand-colored herbals began and never stopped for over 30 years.

The years were spent in dusty bookshops with bad lighting, searching book dealer’s catalogs, visiting the book fairs in London, LA, and San Francisco, and trying to outbid other collectors at fancy auction houses. So many treasures have been put together in this library. Rare herbals like the 1529 Grete Herball, the 1565 Mattioli materia medica and the very rare first published illustrated herbal text, Apuleius Barbarus’s Herbarium (c. 1481). Many of the great botanists and herbalists along with their herbals are represented here—Fuchs, Brunfels, l’Obel, Dodoens, Turner, Parkinson and Gerard—plus numerous works of medical botany, ethnobotany, floras and plant folklore. You can view the full Brucia Botanical Library catalog digitized here on the World Herb Library.

After having spent over 30 years collecting and building one of the world’s finest private botanical libraries, it’s wonderful to be able to share digital copies with everyone through the World Herb Library website.

The World Herb Library has brought together books from so many of the great libraries of the last one hundred years, the incredible botanical book collection of Kenneth K. Mackenzie, the Robert de Belder collection, the Juan Carlos Ahumada collection of great herbals and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society sale in 2002. Having the Brucia botanical library along with the Dr. Christopher Hobbs botanical collection included is truly an honor.”

~ Bob Brucia, Botanical Book Collector, Manufacturing Herbalist, PhytoPharmaceutical consultant

Christopher Hobbs, Ph.D.

Christopher Hobbs, Ph.D., L.Ac. is a research scientist, licensed acupuncturist and herbalist (California), clinician, consultant to the natural products industry, author, and public speaker. He also serves as a scientific advisor and legal consultant on herbs and dietary supplements, including for Mushroom Harvest/Mushroom Wellness.

A fourth-generation herbalist and third-generation botanist, Dr. Hobbs began his training early, influenced by his family’s deep roots in herbal medicine and botany. He formally studied chemistry, botany, anatomy, and physiology beginning in the 1980s and has taught at institutions such as Yale, Stanford, and the University of California.

Since the late 1970s, he has authored over twenty books, including a Peterson Field Guide on over 600 Western medicinal plants, and built a rare botanical library of nearly 8,000 volumes. He co-founded the American Herbalists Guild in 1989 and has remained active in the peer-review process.

Dr. Hobbs completed Traditional Chinese Medicine training in Hangzhou, China, and earned his Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley, with research focusing on medicinal plant chemistry, evolutionary biology, and analytical techniques including chromatography and DNA barcoding. His scientific work has been published in peer-reviewed journals.

He continues to teach, consult, and lead research in medicinal plants and fungi, contributing to both academic and commercial advancements in herbal medicine.

Ed Smith, D.Sc. (Hon.)

Ed Smith, popularly known as “Herbal Ed,” is a medical herbalist, world traveler and botanical adventurer. His contributions to the world of herbs and herbal medicine include:

  • Co-founder of Herb Pharm®, United Plant Savers, AmericanHerbalist Guild, American Herb Products Association and World Herb Library.
  • Serves on advisory board of American Botanical Council.
  • Awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Nutrition Business Journal. (2023)
  • Awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from National College of Naturopathic Medicine for his lifetime work and achievements in botanical medicine and in medicinal plant conservation. (2013)
  • Recipient of American Botanical Council’s prestigious Champion Award. (2016)
  • Ed and Sara Katz received the Socially Responsible Business Award from American Herb Products Association for their “unwavering ethical commitment to the herb products industry.” (2006)
  • Worked with Dr. John Christopher, with whom he co-founded and served on the board of directors of Foundation for Natural Living, which in turn founded Pacific College of Naturopathic Medicine. (1978-80)
  • Worked with Dr. Ann Wigmore at Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston, as senior lecturer and nutritional healthcare counselor. (1975-77)
  • Ed now lives with his wife, Nok, in Hua Hin, Thailand, where he continues his study and research of medicinal, nutritional, and psychoactive plants.
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