The pharmacist’s task is to produce medications from simples, according to suitable techniques. In ancient texts, the descriptions of the drugs were linked on recipes to create the cures.

The Arab and the Salerno Schools wrote recipe books that became a reference for centuries: the Grabadin and the Antidotary of Nicholas.
> The Arab and the Salerno Schools

The advent of chemistry added new spagyric medications to the traditional Galenic ones.
> Chemistry

The authorities issued official collections of recipes, pharmacopoeias, to stem the proliferation of medicaments and manage their control.
> Pharmacopoeias

There was trade in ingredients and medications, as seen in the table of duties in Venice in 1751.
> Trade