A Curious Herbal : Elizabeth Blackwell's Pioneering Masterpiece of Botanical Art

"This gorgeous book has the heft of an ancient herbal. It is a treasure for anyone interested in the healing properties of plants. Blackwell’s precise depictions... are beautifully reproduced. It is a joy to turn every page." — Susan Fraser, Director Emerita of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, New York Botanical Garden "The [text], so carefully researched, for the first time provides what feels to be a factual and fascinating insight into Blackwell’s life and the depth of her endeavor, in a world dominated by men, whilst dispelling some of the myths and misinformation that surrounded her." — Sue Medway, Director and Curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden, London “Magnificent and long-overdue, it will surely become an essential reference for scholars of Blackwell, and anyone interested in 18th century botany.” — Will Beharrell, Librarian of the Linnean Society of London "As a wife and mother excluded from the male institutions of eighteenth-century British botany and medicine, Elizabeth Blackwell created her Curious Herbal against tremendous odds. In this new edition, Blackwell’s gorgeous plates bloom afresh, while two engaging essays―by Martha McDowell and Janet Stiles Tyson―vividly capture the life and times of this brave, talented woman. Almost three centuries on, this stunning volume does justice to Blackwell’s great achievement in medical botany." ― Victoria Johnson, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist for American Eden A complete edition of the first herbal published by a woman artist—which has a remarkable backstory In the 1730s, Elizabeth Blackwell (1699–c. 1758) found herself penniless, with her ne’er-do-well husband confined to a London debtor’s prison. A talented artist, she came up with a unique and ambitious moneymaking scheme: the publication of a new illustrated guide to medicinal plants, including many New World species not depicted in earlier books. Blackwell’s Curious Herbal, published between 1737 and 1739, was hailed for its usefulness to