# @hyperallergic on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcGzOJioInx
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69268864-hyperallergic-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c36dd1377a.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-16T15:36:49.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Hyperallergic (@hyperallergic) — https://gondola.cc/hyperallergic

## Caption

In the mid-1730s, Elizabeth Blackwell did something that no one like her had ever done. Over the course of two years, she became the first British woman to produce a fully illustrated herbal — a kind of encyclopedic botanical reference guide — for commercial sale. 

The book was meant to aid scientists and doctors in developing and administering treatments for diseases through the use of plant-based therapies. Humans have long relied on plants for medical help, but previous herbals often featured limited or confusing images. By contrast, Blackwell’s specimens were observed from life in London’s Chelsea Physic Garden and rendered in large, detailed, hand-colored engravings. From local St. John’s Wort to the “curious love-apple” (tomato), Blackwell’s herbal features 500 plants from across the globe.

Beyond its astonishing scope, the book also had serious scientific value. It predated and perhaps informed early modern works like “Species Plantarum” (1753) by Carolus Linnaeus, who we know was aware of Blackwell’s work. And more than 50 years after Blackwell’s herbal was published, the English physician and naturalist Richard Pulteney wrote, “It is a singular fact, that physic [medicine] is indebted for the most complete set of figures of the medicinal plants, to the genius and industry of a lady.” Despite its importance, Blackwell’s book is little known today.

To read the full story, visit the link in bio.

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1 - Elizabeth Blackwell, detail of illustration of Quinces Cydonea, or Mala cotonea major; Cydonia oblonga (all images courtesy Abbeville Press)

2 - Elizabeth Blackwell, illustration of Love-Apple/Tomato, or Amoris Pomum; Solanum lycopersicum

3 - Elizabeth Blackwell, illustration of Dandelion, or Piss-a-bed, Dens Leonis; Taraxacum officinale

4 - Elizabeth Blackwell, illustration of Garden Radish, or Raphanus hortensis; Raphanus raphanistrum var. sativa

5 - Elizabeth Blackwell, illustration of Garden Cucumber, or Cucumis sativus

#Botany #ElizabethBlackwell #Herbalist #Illustration #ScientificIllustration

https://hyperallergic.com/815868/exquisite-illustrations-of-pioneering-woman-herbalist-elizabeth-blackwell/

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## Tags

herbalist, scientificillustration, illustration, elizabethblackwell, botany

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