This four-volume, reset collection takes as its starting point the earliest substantial descriptions of tea as a commodity in the mid-seventeenth century, and ends in the early nineteenth century with two key events: the discovery of tea plants in Assam in 1823, and the dissolution of the East India Company’s monopoly on the tea trade in 1833

Volume 2 Tea in Natural History and Medical Writing Introduction Thomas Garway, An Exact Description of the Growth, Quality and Vertues of the Leaf Tea ([c. 1670]) Samuel Price, The Virtues of Coffee, Chocolette, and Thee or Tea ([c. 1690]) John Ovington, An Essay upon the Nature and Qualities of Tea (1699) Daniel Duncan, Wholesome Advice against the Abuse of Hot Liquors (1706) James Cuninghame, ‘Part of Two Letters to the Publisher from Mr. James Cunningham, F. R. S. and Physician to the English at Chusan in China’ (1707) The Volatile Spirit of Bohee-Tea ([c. 1713]) Of the Use of Tobacco, Tea, Coffee, Chocolate, and Drams (1722) A Treatise on the Inherent Qualities of the Tea-Herb (1750) John Coakley Lettsom, The Natural History of the Tea-Tree (1772) Count Belchilgen and J. A. Cope, An Essay on the Virtues and Properties of the Ginseng Tea (1786) H. Smith, ‘An Essay on Foreign Teas’ ([1795]) Jean-Baptiste Breton, ‘Monkeys Gathering Tea’ (1812) The History of the Tea Plant ([1819]) Editorial Notes