The Museum, located in Palazzo Bourbon del Monte, was instituted in 2002 at the initiative of the Aboca company, active for over twenty years in the sector of medicinal plants, with the aim of providing historic evidence of the utilisation of herbs and reviving their traditional usage. Displayed in its exhibition rooms are antique utensils employed in ancient pharmacies to preserve and prepare medicinal herbs: mortars made of bronze, stone, alabaster, ivory and wood, of Italian and European provenance; majolicas, ceramics and blown glass jars. The material also includes tools for harvesting the herbs and laboratory instruments from the 18th century. Reconstructions of the traditional settings in which the herbs were prepared may also be seen.

The library contains printed books dating from the 16th through the early 20th century, relevant to botany, pharmacy and chemistry, as well as collections of botanical iconography and numerous herbariums (illustrated with copperplate engravings, woodcuts and lithographs).