Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal

This work was illustrated, engraved and hand-coloured by the physician Elizabeth Blackwell, in order to raise sufficient funds to have her husband, Alexander, released from a debtor’s prison. Elizabeth made her drawings at Chelsea Physic Garden in London (established as the Apothecaries’ Garden in 1673). She then took her drawings to Alexander in prison, where he identified the plants in question. The book was issued in weekly parts, eventually detailing 500 plants used in medicine, including the draconium shown here. Shown here: plate 269