The British Pharmacopoeia has provided official standards for the quality of substances and articles used in medicine since its first publication. Cartwright explores how these standards have been achieved through a comprehensive review of the history and development of pharmacopoeias in the UK. The book, which places the British Pharmacopoeia in its global context as an instrument of the British Empire, will be of value to historians of medicine and pharmacy and practitioners of medicine, pharmacy and pharmaceutical analytical chemistry.