Elizabeth Blackwell

Aberdeen, Scotland, 1707 - 1758

Keywords

About MeBotanical author and illustrator

Elizabeth Blackwell discovered her entrepreneurial skills and talent as a botanical author when she had to rescue her family from hard times. In 1734 her husband’s printing business failed, and he was sent to the debtors’ prison. In a bid to save her family from destitution, Elizabeth started to write and illustrate guides to herbal medicine.

Although born in Aberdeen, Elizabeth had moved with her husband to London. Living close to the Chelsea Physic Garden she studied and sketched the plants growing there. Once her drawings were complete, she engraved them on to copper plates and hand-coloured the 500 prints which appear in her publication A Curious Herbal. Published in two volumes in 1737 and 1738, the book enjoyed considerable success.

Elizabeth’s ability not only as an artist but also in marketing and publishing her work helped her to rescue her family from debt.
Additional InfoImage Attribution: The original uploader was Phrood at German Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia Biography

Loading ...