"Love-Apple," Elizabeth Blackwell, 1737-9.

Blackwell (1699-1758) was a botanical illustrator who did the drawings and etchings for a book, "A Curious Herbal," a reference book for physicians and apothecaries.

The daughter of a successful artist herself, she was well educated in the art. Her husband, Alexander Blackwell, was a con artist; he was imprisoned for debt & eventually left her, ending up being beheaded in Sweden in 1747.

Blackwell started the herbal at first focusing on New World plants & expanding to others. She had her husband & assorted other doctors & botanists to provide the scientific information. The book was successful, but while the money got her husband out of jail, he drove them further into debt, & the rights had to be sold.

Not much is known of her after her husband left her; it's believed she worked as a midwife. She did receive some funds later in life for the book...but alas, continued to share them with her husband. At the time her loyalty to this loser won her praise for fidelity & piety...these days, it's frustrating & you just want to scream at her.

And if you haven't figured it out yet, "love-apple" is the old term for what we call a tomato today.

Happy Flower Friday!

From the Oak Spring Garden Foundation Library, Upperville, VA.

#Art #ElizabethBlackwell #WomenArtists

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first U.S. woman to earn a medical degree, proving women belonged in medicine. Today, gender bias still exists in healthcare. How do we keep pushing forward?

#ElizabethBlackwell #WomenInMedicine #BreakingBarriers

My review of the audiobook The Greater Journey: American in Paris by David McCullough – 19th Century Cultural Mecca #19thcenturyParis #bookreview #ElizabethBlackwell #FrancoPrussianWar #HarrietBeecherStowe #JamesFenimoreCooper #MaryCassat #OliverWendellHolmes

https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.com/2023/11/27/audiobook-review-the-greater-journey-american-in-paris-by-david-mccullough-19th-century-cultural-mecca/

"In all, the book is a captivating look at a moment when science, medicine, and—at least in the case of Blackwell—gender dynamics were drastically shifting in Britain. It's a valuable reminder that more historical heroines are waiting to be rediscovered; we just need to look closely."

Exquisite Illustrations of Pioneering 18th-Century Woman Herbalist

https://hyperallergic.com/815868/exquisite-illustrations-of-pioneering-woman-herbalist-elizabeth-blackwell/ via Hyperallergic
Image: Abbeville Press
#ElizabethBlackwell #Herbalist #Botany #Nature #Illustration #Science #Medicine