The lemon tree

Elizabeth Blackwell prints bring the plants of an eighteenth-century herbal into your home: roses, poppies, cowslips, camomile, artichokes, tea, coffee and lemon trees. Blackwell drew, engraved and hand-coloured all 500 plates of A Curious Herbal (1737–39), a medical reference she made to free her husband from debtors' prison. Our collection of fine art prints includes hundreds of her plates.

About Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Simpson was born in Aberdeen in 1699, the daughter of the painter Leonard Simpson, and was educated in art, music and languages. She married Alexander Blackwell, and the couple moved to London after questions arose about his medical qualifications. There he set up a printing house without serving the required apprenticeship, was heavily fined, and ended up in debtors' prison for two years.

Left with no income and a child to raise, Elizabeth learned that a new herbal was needed to show plants newly arrived from the New World. She decided to draw it herself, while Alexander supplied the plant names in several languages from his cell. With help from Isaac Rand, curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden, she moved near the garden to draw the plants from life.

A Curious Herbal appeared in weekly parts between 1737 and 1739 and was praised by physicians and the Royal College of Physicians. Its success freed Alexander, though debts returned and the couple sold the rights in 1747. Alexander later left for Sweden, where he was executed. Elizabeth died in London in 1758, and a revised edition of her herbal was published in Nuremberg from 1757 to 1773.

Style and Subjects

Blackwell's plates were made for physicians and apothecaries, so each shows a single plant clearly on a plain page: leaves, flowers and often fruit or roots, with the plant's name below. She engraved the copper plates herself and coloured the prints by hand, which gives them a fresh, direct charm.

Her subjects range from garden flowers like roses and poppies to herbs, vegetables and fruit trees, as well as exotic plants such as tea and coffee. The drawing is simple and honest rather than showy, with soft natural colour.

Famous Works

• A Curious Herbal (1737–1739). 500 plates of useful plants, all drawn, engraved and coloured by Blackwell.
• Lysimachia (Loosestrife), Plate 278 (1737), Yale Center for British Art. A plate from the second volume of the herbal.
• The Damask Rose (1737–1739). A classic garden rose from the herbal.
• Red Poppy (1737–1739). A bright red field poppy.
• Coffee (1737–1739). The coffee plant with its leaves and berries.
• Green Tea (1737–1739). The tea plant, an exotic newcomer in her day.
• The Lemon Tree (1737–1739). A fruiting lemon branch.

Decorating with Blackwell Prints

Blackwell's herbal plates are ideal for a kitchen, pantry or dining room. Hang her coffee and tea plates near a coffee station, or a row of herbs such as camomile, sorrel and wild rocket above a counter, in simple wood or white frames.

Her roses, poppies and cowslips suit a bedroom or bathroom, and a large grid of mixed plates makes a calm, botanical feature wall in a living room or hallway.

FAQ

Who was Elizabeth Blackwell?

Elizabeth Blackwell (1699–1758) was a Scottish-born botanical illustrator, best known for drawing and engraving the plates of A Curious Herbal, published in London between 1737 and 1739.

Why did she make A Curious Herbal?

Her husband was in debtors' prison, and she needed an income. She illustrated a herbal of useful medicinal plants, and its success paid for his release.

Where did she draw the plants?

Many were drawn from life at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, with help from its curator, Isaac Rand.

Did she make the prints herself?

Yes. Unusually for the time, she engraved the copper plates herself and coloured the printed illustrations by hand.

Is she the same Elizabeth Blackwell who became a doctor?

No. This is the eighteenth-century botanical artist, not the nineteenth-century physician of the same name.

Related Artists

• Georg Dionysius Ehret: leading botanical artist of the next generation
• Johann Wilhelm Weinmann: German publisher of a great herbal of the same era
• Maria Sibylla Merian: another pioneering woman artist of plants
• Sydenham Edwards: later British botanical illustrator